- WATER PLANNING
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Three New Mexico organizations will be sharing nearly $300,000 for projects aimed at improving watersheds. The Bureau of Reclamation says the money will go toward work being done by the Jornada Resource Conservation and Development Council, the Santa Fe Watershed Association and New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. The alliance will work with experts from the University of New Mexico and the U.S. Geological Survey to assess water quality and ecological resiliency in the Rio Chama. In southern New Mexico, one of the projects involves forming a task force to develop a comprehensive watershed plan for the Hatch and Mesilla valleys.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — An annual New Mexico event dedicated to UFOs isn't changing plans despite concern around the new coronavirus. KOB-TV reports the UFO Festival in Roswell remains scheduled for July 3 to 5 and organizers say they have no plans to move it. Mainstreet Roswell board member Molly Boyles says organizers still have time and will only cancel or postpone if government agencies recommend it. Boyles, the owner of Once Again Consignment and Resale, also says she doesn't plan to close the doors to her shop anytime soon. Roswell Mayor Dennis Kintigh says the city so far has no positive cases of COVID-19. Roswell is the site of a supposed UFO crash in 1947.
- BANK ROBBERY SUSPECT
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — An Oklahoma man accused of robbing a bank in New Mexico has had his initial court appearance. Federal prosecutors say 47-year-old Randy Matthew Peraza of Oklahoma City is charged in a criminal complaint with bank robbery. Peraza is in custody awaiting a detention hearing. Prosecutors say he faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. According to the criminal complaint, Peraza allegedly robbed a bank in Roswell on March 13. Witnesses say Peraza demanded money from a teller and walked out of the bank and across a street before sitting in a grassy area where police arrested him a short time later. It was unclear Monday if Peraza has a lawyer yet.
- ELECTION 2020-HOUSE-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Las Cruces businessman says he has collected enough signatures to qualify to be placed on the ballot in a crucial U.S. House race in southern New Mexico. Chris Mathys told The Associated Press he will submit more than 3,000 signatures and is planning to be on the Republican primary ballot for New Mexico's 2nd Congressional seat. His announcement comes days after failing to obtain enough delegates at a statewide GOP convention. Mathys, former state lawmaker Yvette Herrell and oil executive Claire Chase are seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small. Herrell earned top billing at a statewide GOP convention on the Republican primary ballot for the 2nd Congressional District.
- NUCLEAR WASTE-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Top New Mexico officials are concerned the U.S. government isn't taking seriously its obligations to clean up waste left behind by decades of nuclear research and bomb-making at one of the nation's premier laboratories. The birthplace of the atomic bomb, Los Alamos National Laboratory would see only a fraction of the $6 billion the U.S. Energy Department is proposing to spend next year on cleanup work nationwide. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration is taking another look whether it can make stronger a 2016 agreement with the federal government that spells out cleanup milestones and consequences for not achieving them.
- BC-VIRUS OUTBREAK-IMMIGRATION COURTS
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — U.S. immigration courts sharply scaled back operations Monday but have stopped well short of a total shutdown demanded by employees, including judges and government attorneys. The partial shutdown doesn't extend to courts in immigration detention centers or to the government's "Migrant Protection Protocols" policy to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in the U.S. Wearing face masks, about 30 asylum-seekers who had been waiting in Mexico were escorted by authorities into a federal building on Monday in El Paso, Texas, some carrying children.
- ENMU PRESIDENT CONTRACT
PORTALES, N.M. (AP) — The head of Eastern New Mexico University System is stepping down. University officials announced over the weekend that Chancellor and ENMU-Portales President Dr. Jeff Elwell is not extending his contract. Elwell notified the ENMU Board of Regents that his tenure will end June 30, 2021. He says he wanted to give early notice so the board has plenty of time to search for a successor. Elwell is credited with furthering unity between all three campuses of the ENMU system through his "One Eastern" plan.
- VETERANS CLINIC
HOBBS, N.M, (AP) — U.S. military veterans are getting a new clinic in southeastern New Mexico. The Hobbs News-Sun reports the planned veterans clinic has been placed on a "fast track" to be completed by the end of 2020. Officials say the lack of a options for veterans in Hobbs force many of them to make the grueling trip out of state to receive care. According to statistics from the Veterans Medical Center in Big Spring, Texas, there are around 6,000 veterans living in New Mexico's Lea County. The clinic comes after Hobbs City Commissioner Dwayne Penick had been working on bringing a veterans clinic to the Hobbs and Lea County area for around a year.