- IMMIGRATION-DETAINED CHILDREN
Government moves migrant kids after poor conditions exposed
The U.S. government has removed most of the children from a remote Border Patrol station in Texas following reports that more than 300 kids were detained there and caring for each other with inadequate food, water and sanitation.
Rep. Veronica Escobar said 30 children were at the facility near El Paso as of Monday. Her office was briefed on the situation by an official with Customs and Border Protection.
Attorneys who visited the station in Clint, Texas last week said older children were trying to take care of infants and toddlers, The Associated Press first reported Thursday. Some had been detained for three weeks, and 15 children were sick with the flu.
It's unclear where all the children have been moved. But Escobar said some were sent to another facility in El Paso.
- WILDFIRES-SMOKY AIR
Jump in wildfires means smoke's health impact will spread
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Climate change in the Western U.S. means more intense and frequent wildfires churning out waves of smoke that scientists say will affect tens of millions of people and cause premature deaths to spike.
That's prompting people in cities and rural areas alike to gird themselves for another summer of sooty skies along the West Coast and in the Rocky Mountains.
Wildfire smoke was once considered a nuisance except for the most vulnerable populations. It's now seen in some regions as a recurring public health threat.
Harvard University climate researcher Loretta Mickley says residents of Northern California, western Oregon, Washington state and the Northern Rockies could see the most increases in smoke exposure.
Microscopic particles in smoke can penetrate deeply into the lungs to cause coughing, chest pain and asthma attacks.
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Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MatthewBrownAP .
- OIL BOOM-AIRPORT EXPANSION
Booming New Mexico oil region may get daily flight to Denver
(Information from: Hobbs News-Sun, http://www.hobbsnews.com)
HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — A southeastern New Mexico county airport in the heart of New Mexico's booming oil region may include Denver to its list of growing destinations.
The Hobbs News-Sun reports Corporation of Lea County board of directors chairman Finn Smith presented a proposal at a Hobbs City Commission meeting last week to add Denver to the United Airlines contract.
Smith told the News-Sun the county is in the process of negotiating an agreement with United to add that flight. He says it would be one flight a day, direct from Hobbs, New Mexico, to Denver.
He told the commission United Airlines is ready to start the new flight to Denver on October 28. Flights to Houston began in June 2011.
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- CONGRESS-IMMIGRATION
White House threatens to veto aid bill for migrant families
WASHINGTON (AP) — A White House veto threat is raising fresh questions about the fate of a House bill that would provide $4.5 billion to improve the treatment of migrant families detained after crossing the U.S. southern border.
In a letter to lawmakers Monday, the White House says the measure would hamstring the administration's border security efforts. The warning comes as Hispanic and liberal Democrats press House leaders to add provisions to the legislation strengthening protections for migrant children.
Though revisions are possible, House leaders are still hoping for approval as early as Tuesday. Congress is in recess next week.
The Senate planned to vote this week on similar legislation that has bipartisan backing, but many House Democrats say the Senate version's provisions aimed at helping migrant children are not strong enough.
- ILLEGAL FIREWORKS-APPS
Albuquerque joins others to use app to spot banned fireworks
(Information from: KOB-TV, http://www.kob.com)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's largest city is joining a growing number of communities asking residents to use an app to report illegal fireworks on July 4th instead of calling 911.
KOB-TV reports city officials are directing residents to the "OneABQ" app so authorities can streamline complaints instead of dispatching first responders.
Albuquerque Fire Rescue spokesman Tom Ruiz says the app sends notices to fire enforcement units when a complaint is made instead of sending first responders going to 911 calls.
Officials say last year, when the app was used for the first time, 911 calls reporting illegal fireworks fell by 80% from the year before.
Three years ago, firefighting agencies from the Sacramento, California, area launched the "Nail 'Em" app to encourage residents to report illegal fireworks sales and usage.
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- AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS
New Mexico airports get federal funds for improvements
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Several New Mexico airports have been awarded grants to make infrastructure improvements.
The funding was announced Monday by the Federal Aviation Administration as part of the agency's airport improvement program. Nearly $500 million is being awarded nationwide in a second installment of grants.
Airports can receive a certain amount of improvement funds each year based on activity levels and project needs.
Roswell's airport will get about $740,000 to rehabilitate its taxiway. Airports in Moriarty, Las Vegas and Navajo Dam also will get money for taxiway work.
Lea County's airport in Jal will use its $150,000 grant for a guidance system.
In northern New Mexico, Springer's municipal airport will get funding for a perimeter fence and for a building to house its snow-removal equipment.
- METHANE FIGHT-NEW MEXICO
Methane proposal draws fire from environmental groups
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wants the state to craft its own rules to curb methane emissions from oil and gas development as federal regulations remain stalled by legal challenges.
The industry says it has a roadmap that will help, but environmentalists argue the proposals aren't enough.
The battle lines are being drawn as regulators prepare for what could be a rancorous process in a state where government coffers ebb and flow with the pace of drilling and market prices.
The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association released its plan for reducing emissions Monday, saying its members are willing to work with government to strike a balance that will result in reduced pollution while not compromising the industry's growth.
Some other states already have adopted their own methane rules.
- COLORADO BUS CRASH-THE LATEST
The Latest: 4 remain hospitalized after Colorado bus crash
PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) — Authorities say four people remain hospitalized after a charter bus carrying a church youth group crashed in southern Colorado. The crash killed two people.
State Patrol Sgt. Blake White said Monday that one person was listed in critical condition at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs. White says three people are being treated for serious injuries at Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo.
White says nine people were treated for minor injuries and released from area hospitals.
Jason Paul Marshall, a seminarian with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was killed, as was the driver of the bus, whose identity had yet to be released late Monday.
The group was returning to New Mexico from a weekend retreat in Denver when the bus struck a bridge abutment and veered off Interstate 25 north of Pueblo.
White says the bus operator, Follow the Sun Inc. of Albuquerque, is cooperating in the investigation.
Telephone messages left with the company weren't immediately returned.