• FORMER SHERIFF RELEASE DECLINED

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A judge has ruled that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling will not result in an early prison release for former Rio Arriba County sheriff Tommy Rodella. Santa Fe New Mexican reported Friday that U.S. District Judge James Browning declined an early release request based on a change in a federal firearms law in June. The Supreme Court voted on an unrelated Texas robbery case that struck down a firearms statute that added seven years to Rodella's prison sentence.

Legislative elections and ideological divisions among Democrats are looming over major initiatives backed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on gun safety, recreational marijuana and pension reform. It's the second straight year of unified Democratic control over the Statehouse and governor's office. Democrats reclaimed the governor's office from a Republican and picked up eight seats in the state House as a blue wave swept through politics in 2018 elections. This year, the entire House and Senate are up for election for the first time since President Donald Trump took office.

• MURDER KIDNAPPING PLEA

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A 33-year-old man pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap in a case that involved the death of a man and the kidnapping of his friend, the Albuquerque Journal reported Friday. Chase Smothermon's guilty plea came in the August 2017 case that involved the death of 41-year-old John Soyka and kidnapping of Soyka's friend Matthew Tressler. Smothermon faces between 40 and 60 years in prison.

• Today is Saturday, Jan. 25, the 25th day of 2020. There are 341 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 25, 1915, America's first official transcontinental telephone call took place as Alexander Graham Bell, who was in New York, spoke to his former assistant, Thomas Watson, who was in San Francisco, over a line set up by American Telephone & Telegraph.

• CHACO CANYON-DRILLING

Lawmakers from the country's largest American Indian reservation may have thrown a wrinkle into efforts aimed at establishing a permanent buffer around Chaco Culture National Historical Park as New Mexico's congressional delegation, environmentalists and other tribes try to keep oil and gas development from getting closer to the World Heritage site. Navajo Nation delegates voted Thursday to support a buffer only half the size of the one proposed in legislation pending in Congress.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks to Vox culture reporter Aja Romano about Netflix's reality competition show, The Circle.

Weekends are supposed to be time off, but often they get filled up with errands. NPR's Life Kit podcast has some suggestions on how to relax when your weekend gets busy.

In Mississippi, 10 prison inmates have died in recent weeks. At a rally Friday, activists and citizens urged the state to close one controversial prison and to repair the others.