- BORDER WALL-MILITARY FUNDING
WASHINGTON (AP) — A total of 127 military construction projects are being sidelined by a Pentagon decision to shift $3.6 billion to build part of President Donald Trump's border wall.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper approved the transfer of funds on Tuesday. Officials say details about the projects losing their funding will be released after Congress is notified.
The Pentagon comptroller says the projects are being "deferred" and not cancelled, though there is no guarantee the funding will be restored by Congress.
The money is to be used to build 175 miles of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Congress approved $1.375 billion for wall construction in this year's budget, same as the previous year but far less than the $5.7 billion that the White House sought.
- GREEN CHILE HARVEST
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Chile farmers in southern New Mexico say extreme shifts in weather have affected the harvest.
Alonso Grajeda of Grajeda Farms says a cold snap early in the season and a later heat wave mean he won't have as much green chile as in previous years.
He tells the Las Cruces Sun News he had to replant, delaying the growth of his crops by about three weeks.
Duane Gillis of Gillis Farms says his chiles are about two weeks behind schedule. But, he says the best chile is being harvested now.
New Mexico is known for its green chile grown in Hatch, where a festival celebrating the state vegetable was held over the weekend.
The official state question is "red or green?"
- TEJANO SINGER-SHOOTING
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The family of a slain Tejano singer from New Mexico has launched a charitable fund in her memory.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports family members of Ernestine Saucedo have started a fund to provide scholarships to graduating seniors and donations for organizations that work to prevent domestic violence.
Police said 32-year-old Ernestine Saucedo, who performed Tejano-style music under her maiden name of Ernestine Romero, was fatally shot in July by her husband, 34-year-old Jessie Saucedo. Authorities say he then killed himself.
Records show the couple had a prior history of domestic disputes, and police said they remained legally married but had been living apart several weeks prior to the shooting.
The memorial fund will be held at the Santa Fe Community Foundation.
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This story has been updated to correct the name and age of the husband to 34-year-old Jessie Saucedo, instead of 32-year-old Ernestine Saucedo.
- SCHOOL DISTRICT-LEGAL FIGHT
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — The former superintendent for Las Cruces Public Schools is calling for the state to investigate a school board member's alleged abuse of power.
KVIA-TV reports Greg Ewing recently filed a complaint to the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office and accused board member Maria Flores of interfering with the operations and management of the district while he was superintendent.
Ewing also alleged that Flores created a hostile work environment by gossiping about his sexual orientation.
Flores declined to comment on the allegations.
Ewing submitted his resignation via a letter dated Aug. 9 amid infighting with school board members.
The board later appointed Karen Trujillo as the district's interim superintendent. She was fired six months into her job as public education secretary by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
- JEFFREY EPSTEIN-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's commissioner of public lands is announcing plans to terminate livestock grazing leases to a holding company controlled by financier Jeffrey Epstein before his death last month.
First-year Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard scheduled a morning news conference on Wednesday to announce the cancellation of two leases to Cypress Inc.
Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell Aug. 10 while awaiting his sex trafficking trial. He owned an isolated hilltop mansion and ranch in central New Mexico.
A small portion of the ranch extended across state trust land under a 1990s-era contract with the State Land Office that was renewed as recently as 2016.
New Mexico's attorney general says the state trust land was leased to provide privacy and barely if ever was used for grazing livestock.
- WESTERN NEW MEXICO PLAYER DIES
SILVER CITY, N.M. (AP) — Western New Mexico University officials say freshman wide receiver Eddie Cruz has died in an apparent drowning.
Grant County Sheriff's officials say a New Mexico State Police dive team was called out to Bill Evans Lake north of Silver City around 3 p.m. Monday after multiple calls of a possible drowning.
Divers recovered a man's body about 4 1/2 hours later.
Sheriff's officials say the incident remains under investigation.
School officials announced Cruz's death Tuesday.
Western New Mexico President Joseph Shepard said in a statement that the university is devastated by the loss of "a phenomenal kid."
Cruz graduated in June from Eastwood High School in El Paso, Texas and was studying kinesiology in college.
The Mustangs are scheduled to open their season Saturday night in Arizona against Ottawa University.
- NEUROSCIENCE GRANT
TSAILE, Ariz. (AP) — Researchers at the University of Arizona and Dine (dih-NEH') College are partnering to try to get more Navajo students into biomedical sciences.
The schools recently were awarded a $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Kathleen Rogers and Roberta Diaz Brinton from UofA and Fred Boyd from Dine College will develop a training program for Navajo students to further their studies in neuroscience.
They say Native Americans make up 0.5% of the workforce in biomedical sciences — the lowest of any minority group.
The students will work with Navajo elders while learning science research methods. The researchers say the approach recognizes that Native American students might have different perspectives in trying to address health disparities.
- OIL BOOM-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's oil and gas industry is expected to keep growing at a record pace, resulting in more revenue for the state and billions of dollars in new infrastructure investments to get the commodities to market.
The predictions were presented to state lawmakers Tuesday. The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and the American Petroleum Institute commissioned the study.
Analysts estimate it will take $174 billion of new infrastructure to keep pace with expected growth through 2030. That infrastructure would range from new pipelines and access roads to well construction, processing plants and refineries.
Ryan Flynn with the oil and gas association says he doesn't see it as an infrastructure challenge but rather natural growth in investment that will come from production hitting new highs in the Permian Basin.