- BORDER WALL-CONSTRUCTION
New Mexico company chosen to build border wall part in Texas
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An Albuquerque-based company has been awarded a more than $80 million contract to building a stretch of new border wall in Texas.
KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas, reports Southwest Valley Constructors was recently chosen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to build an 11-mile (17.7-kilometer) stretch in Hidalgo County, Texas.
Customs and Border Protection officials said the new portion will be similar to a previously constructed levee wall, built in the area in 2008. That piece included lights, cameras and other technology.
Construction for the new portion of the border wall in Texas could start at the end of September.
The company said in a statement it has built past components of various border wall pieces across the American Southwest dating back to 2006.
- CHILD ABUSE-KILLING PETS
Hearing for mom in boiling puppies case 'mistakenly' closed
(Information from: The Daily Times, http://www.daily-times.com)
AZTEC, N.M. (AP) — A court official says a New Mexico district judge mistakenly kept the public from a hearing involving a New Mexico woman accused of forcing her children to watch her kill their pets.
The Farmington Daily Times reports an Eleventh Judicial District Court administrator said last week it was a mistake for a district judge to close a public hearing for Martha Crouch.
An Aug. 14 hearing at Aztec District Court on Crouch's possible release was closed.
Eleventh Judicial Court executive officer Weldon Neff says District Judge Curtis Gurley viewed two of her cases as "inextricably" linked or impossible to separate and it was a mistake to close the public hearing.
A daughter told authorities the 54-year-old Crouch boiled puppies and poisoned a kitten as punishment.
She has pleaded not guilty.
- POLICE GATE RAMMED-ARREST
Man accused of driving SUV through police security gate
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say a man has been arrested on suspicion of driving an SUV through a security gate at New Mexico State Police headquarters, then into the front doors of the Metropolitan Court in downtown Albuquerque.
Police say 38-year-old Gilberto Durades-Lahera is jailed on suspicion of two counts of criminal damage to property.
They say Durades-Lahera showed up at the State Police headquarters near Interstate 40 around noon Saturday and drove through a gate into a secure parking lot.
Durades-Lahera fled and officers couldn't find him until an hour later when he allegedly rammed the same SUV into the front doors of the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse.
According to a criminal complaint, Durades-Lahera was yelling that someone was trying to kill him.
It was unclear Sunday if Durades-Lahera has a lawyer yet.
- TESLA-SOLAR
Tesla restarts its solar-panel business, offers rental plans
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Tesla is trying to spark its solar-panel business by letting consumers rent rooftop systems rather than buy them.
Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk announced the offering in a series of tweets Sunday.
The company will allow residents of six states to rent solar-power systems starting at $50 a month — or $65 a month in California — for a small set-up.
Musk says consumers can cancel anytime, although Tesla's website says there's a $1,500 charge to remove panels and restore the roof to its previous condition.
Besides California, rentals will be offered in Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Mexico.
Electric car maker Tesla bought residential solar installer SolarCity for $2.6 billion in 2016 but installations have plunged in recent quarters. Tesla stopped selling systems in Home Depot stores.
- MISSING MARINE-MURDER CASE
Body ID'd as missing Marine from Belen; suspect in custody
BELEN, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say a body found south of Belen has been identified as a Marine veteran missing since last month and a suspect in the murder case is in custody.
Valencia County Sheriff's officials says detectives located a body in a ditch back Friday night.
On Saturday, the Office of the Medical Investigator positively identified the body as that of 32-year-old Matthew Gurule, who was last seen on July 27 at the Isleta Resort and Casino.
Sheriff's officials won't say what led them to the body or how Gurule died.
Belen police say 37-year-old Francisco Gomez of Los Lunas was arrested Aug. 10 for allegedly using Gurule's credit card.
Valencia County Sheriff Denise Vigil says Gomez now is facing a charge of an open count of murder and multiple other felonies.
- CARLSBAD CAVERNS-DIGITAL MAPPING
Carlsbad Caverns creating digital map of cave system
(Information from: Carlsbad Current-Argus, http://www.currentargus.com/)
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — The National Park Service is creating a digital map of Carlsbad Caverns National Park to help with repairs and maintenance projects.
The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports the agency is using light detection and ranging equipment to digitally map out the entire cave system in southern New Mexico down to the millimeter.
The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies at the University of Arkansas is helping with the $186,000 project, which began in 2015. Staff is shooting images and collect data using laser lights and measuring the reflected light with hundreds of sensors.
The result is supposed to yield a highly-detailed digital three-dimensional map of the cave system.
A final draft of the map is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
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- DENTISTS OR THERAPISTS
Backers of rural dental care find something to smile about
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Dozens of countries use dental therapists to bring basic dental care to remote areas, often tribal reservations.
But in the U.S., dentists and their powerful lobby have battled legislatures for years on the drive to allow therapists, who perform basic procedures and leave the more complex work to dentists.
The tide is starting to turn, though.
Several states have recently passed laws authorizing dental therapists. Among them are Vermont and Connecticut.
Some states won the support of dentists after bills required higher levels of education that are still less than what a dentist requires.
But the states looking to allow therapists must also find ways to train them. Only two states, Alaska and Minnesota, have educational programs.
Some lawmakers in Maine are optimistic about Vermont's efforts to set up a dental therapy program with distance-learning options.