- TIMBER WOES-OWL RULING
MILAN, N.M. (AP) — A sawmill is struggling to keep afloat amid a monthslong court injunction that barred logging anywhere near Mexican spotted owl habitat in New Mexico's five national forests. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Mt. Taylor Manufacturing in Milan, New Mexico, was silenced in mid-December because of the court battle. A federal judge imposed the ban on timber activities in September based on a 2013 lawsuit by the Santa Fe-based environmental group WildEarth Guardians that claimed the U.S. Forest Service failed to monitor the spotted owl adequately. The bird is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act since 1993. The business uses ponderosa pine — the trees on which the owls nest.
- PROSTITUTION-PAYING WITH BURGER
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico man is facing charges after police said he agreed to pay an undercover officer posing as a prostitute with a hamburger. Police say Dominic Calderon was arrested Tuesday in Albuquerque following an offer to exchange his hamburger for sex. A criminal complaint says the 36-year-old Calderon approached the undercover officer while riding his bike and asked her how much she charged. When Calderon said he didn't get paid until Friday, the officer said he could pay with his burger and he agreed. He was arrested. It was not known if he had an attorney.
- PENSION REFORM-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Legislators advanced a proposal to reform New Mexico's public pension plan for state and local government workers with some dissent among Democrats in the legislative majority. Public workers and retirees packed the Senate committee hearing for deliberations on a bill aimed at reigning in $6.6 billion in unfunded liabilities at the pension fund overseen by the Public Employees Retirement Association. Major provisions of the bill would tie future annual cost of living adjustments to investment returns instead of providing automatic 3% increases. It also increases pension contributions by employees and employers, with the exception of low-paid workers and state police and corrections officers.
- IMMIGRATION COURT-BACKLOG
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — At the headquarters of the nation's immigration courts, the focus is on how to make the immensely strained system more efficient. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is grappling with a backlog that has ballooned to 1 million deportation cases, a years-long wait for hearings and White House pressure. So it is buying real estate for new courts, creating an online filing system, streamlining training and hiring judges. And it still can't keep up. Its monthly caseload more than doubled last October. James McHenry, who leads the office, says, "We are working on what we can control."
- NUCLEAR OPERATIONS-MAINTENANCE
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico nuclear waste plant will temporarily stop its waste acceptance and other operations to complete multiple maintenance projects. The Carlsbad Current-Argus reported that the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is expected to cease its primary operations of receiving and disposing nuclear waste from Feb. 14 to March 15. Federal energy officials say the maintenance projects are expected to take multiple days or be conducted in critical areas of the facility. Officials say waste shipments would also be put on hold until the projects are completed.
- WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — State legislators in New Mexico are considering criminal penalties including jail time and civil fines for people who knowingly buy or sell endangered wildlife parts and products. A Senate committee on Thursday endorsed the bill from Democratic Sen. Mimi Stewart of Albuquerque on a 6-3 party-line vote with Republicans in opposition. Stewart said 10 other states have adopted their own enforcement provisions on wildlife-parts trafficking to support federal and international restrictions. New Mexico district courts would be able to enforce fines of up to $25,000 per object, with potentially higher fines for highly valuable animal products.
- DNA-RAPE ARREST-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico man charged with rape after authorities checked DNA evidence against a genealogy website has been ordered held pending trial. State District Court Judge Cindy Leos ruled Wednesday that Angel Gurule should remain behind bars even though he has no criminal history. She wrote that the violent nature of the attack, among other factors, led to her finding that no conditions of release could protect the safety of the community. Defense attorney Raymond Maestas had urged the judge to impose strict conditions of release, like GPS monitoring and a curfew.
- UNSALARIED LEGISLATURE-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico legislators could receive state salaries for the first time as the result of a newly proposed constitutional amendment. A legislative panel led by state Democratic Sen. Linda Lopez of Albuquerque endorsed the proposed constitutional amendment that would give the State Ethics Commission authority to set salaries for legislators and other elected state and county officials. New Mexico runs the only unsalaried Legislature in the nation, though members receive a $162 daily stipend during sessions and some money for gas. A watchdog group says that instituting salaries could help eliminate financial conflicts of interest between legislative duties and outside careers.