- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported 36 more COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths. The latest numbers pushed the tribe's totals to 33,548 confirmed COVID-19 cases from the virus since the pandemic began more than a year ago. The known death toll remains at 1,431. Navajo officials are urging people to get vaccinated, wear masks while in public and minimize their travel. Based on cases from Sept. 3-16, the Navajo Department of Health issued an advisory for 36 communities due to uncontrolled spread of COVID-19. Officials say all Navajo Nation executive branch employees will need to be fully vaccinated against the virus by the end of this month or submit to regular testing. The tribe's vast reservation covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
- EDUCATION FRAUD OVERSIGHT
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico education officials are insisting on stricter oversight of a $1 million sliver of federal education funding at the center of a criminal probe in Albuquerque. Prosecutors say the district's career technical education department directed $5 million in contracts to companies connected to former coordinator and now-resigned Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton. She is facing criminal fraud charges. The charges also raise questions around how the state's largest school district is handling federal money. State officials are demanding the district use a third-party auditor and train staff on a new set of fraud and waste safeguards before getting new funds this year.
- SLAIN SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Jury selection continues Wednesday in a case against a U.S. Air Force airman accused of kidnapping a Mennonite woman, fatally shooting her and leaving her body in a forest clearing in northern Arizona. Mark Gooch has pleaded not guilty. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder and other charges in Sasha Krause's death. Krause had been living in a religious community near Farmington, New Mexico, when she disappeared on Jan. 18, 2020, as she was gathering material to teach Sunday school. Her body was found more than a month later outside Flagstaff, Arizona. The trial in Coconino County Superior Court is scheduled for three weeks.
- ALBUQUERQUE-CRIME INITIATIVE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The mayor of New Mexico's largest city and other officials say they have a plan to address Albuquerque's record homicides and other violent crime. Mayor Tim Keller presented details of the plan Tuesday. It includes 40 items that range from closing what many have referred to as a revolving door in the justice system to bolstering prevention and mental health programs. The plan came together following a series of meetings over the summer with city administrators, law enforcement, court officials and others. Keller, who is running for reelection, has been facing heat for not being able to contain crime in the city. He says the new agenda is aimed at systemic changes.
- FEDERAL JUDGE-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Las Cruces-based defense and civil rights attorney Margaret Strickland was confirmed Tuesday by the U.S. Senate to serve as a federal judge in New Mexico, where two prior nominees from President Donald Trump were sidelined in the runup to the 2020 election. Strickland was among President Joe Biden's first slate of nominees announced in March. She was confirmed Tuesday by a 52-45 vote of the Senate, including supportive votes by U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján. Prior nominations by President Donald Trump to fill two vacancies on the U.S. District Court in New Mexico were put on hold in September 2020 by New Mexico's Senate delegation.
- ALBUQUERQUE-FREE BUS RIDES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque's public transit system won't charge fares for riding buses during a 12-month experiment starting Jan. 1. The City Council voted Monday night to approve the pilot program after previously deferring the vote several times. The council approved funding for the long-discussed project several months ago by setting aside $3 million to offset revenue laws but several members recently had concerns about security on buses once fares aren't' required. The council voted 8-0 after being briefed by the Department of Municipal Development's security division. Supporters of the no-fare program said it will help low-income people who rely on buses to get around
- BERNALILLO COUNTY-MONITORING DEFENDANTS
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Defendants awaiting trial in Bernalillo County who wear GPS devices will be monitored more closely from now on. The New Mexico Judiciary has announced the implementation of a plan next month to track ankle devices on felony defendants around-the-clock. The Second Judicial District Court and Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court manage the electronic monitoring devices on weekdays during business hours. Now, new pretrial services staff at the Administrative Office of the Courts will watch the alert system nights, weekends and holidays. GPS monitoring devices set off an alert if a defendant has left house arrest, violated curfew, travels to an off-limits area or tampered with the device.
- PANDEMIC RELIEF-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Legislators have asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to limit Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's authority over more than $1 billion in federal relief. The lawsuit on Monday from the Republican Party's top-ranked senator and a Democratic colleague accuses Lujan Grisham of overstepping her constitutional authority. Democratic State Sen. Jacob Candelaria of Albuquerque says that no one person should have the power to decide alone how much people are taxed or how public money is spent. Lujan Grisham has tapped the disputed relief funds to replenish the state unemployment insurance trust and underwrite millions of dollars in sweepstakes prizes for people who got vaccinated.