- TROUBLED COUNTY-EX-OFFICIAL
ESPAÑOLA, N.M. (AP) — Another official in a New Mexico county where its sheriff is facing charges is in legal trouble. The Albuquerque Journal reports the New Mexico Attorney General's office says former Rio Arriba County Commissioner Barney Trujillo made over $100,000 from three contracts with Española Public Schools without a proper business license. The office says Trujillo also never disclosed that he contributed to the campaigns of two school board members, which is a violation of governmental conduct laws. In addition, investigators say the 39-year-old Trujillo ran illegal school board meetings, even though he wasn't a member. He faces three counts of unlawful interest in a public contract and one count of failing to disclose campaign contributions. His attorney declined to comment.
- OBIT-HELEN DAMICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Helen Damico, a retired University of New Mexico English professor who founded the school's Institute for Medieval Studies, has died from complications arising from COVID-19. The university said Tuesday she died April 14. She was 89. Damico taught courses in Old and Middle English at the university beginning in 1981 after completing her Ph.D. at New York University the year before. Damico was well known for her work on Old English and Old Norse literature, and above all, for her studies of Beowulf. In the late 1990s, Damico established another program around Viking mythology.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico will extend an emergency public health order through May 15 as it convenes mayors and businesses leaders to consider the first minor changes to restrictions on economic activity. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday said the state will forge its own path toward stamping out infections through increased testing and evidence-based decisions about social distancing and business activity. New Mexico has more than 2,200 cases of COVID-19 with 71 deaths. Lujan Grisham said her administration will continue to enforce uniform statewide health guidelines without exceptions for several counties with no confirmed cases.
- NEW MEXICO ENERGY FUTURE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Replacing a coal-fired power plant that has served customers in the American Southwest for decades won't be easy, and decisions made by New Mexico regulators will have ramifications for decades. Members of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission shared their concerns during a meeting Wednesday about the locations of the new generation stations and whether they'll be enough to offset taxes and other revenue that will be lost with the planned closure of the San Juan Generating Station. The commission next week will make a final decision on whether to approve a pair of hybrid solar-battery storage units.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation is extending the closure of its tribal government until mid-May because of the coronavirus outbreak. A previous executive order was set to expire Sunday. Tribal President Jonathan Nez says the tribe needs to remain vigilant. The coronavirus has hit the Navajo Nation that extends into New Mexico, Arizona and Utah harder than any other Native American reservation. The tribe has reported 1,282 positive COVID-19 cases and 49 known deaths as of Wednesday. Those figures don't include cases in towns that border the reservation and previously were included in the tribe's total.
- SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER KILLED
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a U.S. Air Force airman with murder, kidnapping and theft in the death of a Sunday school teacher who had been living in New Mexico. Mark Gooch was arrested Tuesday at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix, where he was stationed. The body of 27-year-old Sasha Krause was found in northern Arizona in late February with head injuries, and court records say a firearm was used to kill her. She had been living among other members of the Mennonite community in Farmington, New Mexico, for about 18 months before she disappeared Jan. 18. An attorney for Gooch declined to comment.
- DOLORES HUERTA-BIRTHPLACE
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — The northern New Mexico birthplace of civil rights icon Dolores Huerta and the site of one of the worst mining disasters in U.S. history is up for sale. A broker has listed the Dawson Elk Valley Ranch, where the town of Dawson once sat, for sale by its billionaire owner for $96 million. The listing says the 78-square-mile ranch lies in the most western reaches of the Great Plains to the front range of the rugged Cimarron Mountains. Huerta was born in Dawson in April 10, 1930. She later co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez in the late 1960s.
- OIL AND GAS-EMERGENCY RULE
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's top land manager has approved an emergency rule that would allow oil and gas companies that lease state trust land to temporarily stop producing without penalty for at least thirty days. State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard on Tuesday said longer-term relief will be coming through a rule change process already underway. The shutting in of wells has been deemed necessary by the State Land Office based on plunging oil prices and storage capacity challenges, including the first-ever negative value of oil seen in the U.S. Revenue from mineral development on state trust land benefits New Mexico public schools, hospitals and universities.