- EDUCATION-TEACHER RAISES
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico education officials are sharing details Friday of a $200 million plan to increase teacher salaries by at least 7% next fall. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says she wants teachers in her state to be the best paid in the region by raising salaries to $64,000, and on par with the national average. New Mexico's minimum teacher salaries are based on three levels of certifications, not years of experience or the cost of living in districts where they work. The Legislature is likely to back a salary increase, with increased oil revenues, and school districts flush with cash from pandemic relief money.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — A team of U.S. Navy health care providers is expected to arrive this weekend at San Juan Regional Medical Center, where an official says a continuing surge in COVID-19 patients has pushed the hospital to more than 200% of its critical care capacity. Hospital emergency preparedness chief Dr. Brad Greenberg tells the The Farmington Daily Times the facility in northwest New Mexico has the greatest critical care challenge among hospitals in the state. He says the 194-bed hospital has been at more than twice its critical care capacity for several weeks. The newspaper reports the hospital declared a standards-of-care crisis in early November.
- JEFFREY EPSTEIN-MAXWELL TRIAL-WEEK ONE
NEW YORK (AP) — The first week of the sex-abuse trial of Ghislaine Maxwell saw the first of her four main accusers taking the witness stand to give emotional testimony accusing the British socialite of coaxing her into sexual encounters with financier Jeffrey Epstein. The jury at the federal trial in Manhattan also heard from former employees who offered an inside look at a lavish lifestyle she shared with Maxwell. She was his girlfriend when he allegedly abused underage victims. With week one down, the trial is expected to last about five more.
- BUDGET SURPLUS-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico government economists are forecasting a major surge in state income as legislators consider proposals to raise pay for public school teachers and a possible hiring spree for local police officers. Also possible are new efforts to bolster essential public services amid the coronavirus pandemic. The new revenue forecast predicts a $1.6 billion surplus in state general fund income in excess of current spending obligations for the fiscal year that starts next July. The petroleum sector accounts for most of the new money. There is record-setting oil production in New Mexico but the state is struggling with high rates of unemployment and childhood poverty.
- MARIJUANA-SMALL BUSINESS LOANS
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico will provide business loans of up to $250,00 toward small-scale cannabis businesses in an effort to provide economic opportunity to communities that were hit hard by past criminal enforcement of marijuana laws. The Regulation and Licensing Department on Thursday announced that the loan program is moving forward. The New Mexico Finance Authority is planning for a $5 million line of credit for cannabis entrepreneurs, with average loan size of about $100,000. The application process is expected to open in February. Loans would be available to qualified cannabis "microbusinesses" that are licensed to cultivate and sell marijuana from up to 200 plants.
- RIO ARRIBA COUNTY SHERIFF-RESIGNATION
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — James Lujan resigned as Rio Arriba County sheriff after being sentenced to prison on felony convictions of aiding a felon and intimidating a witness in 2017. Lujan submitted his resignation Thursday after being sentenced to a three-year prison term one day after state District Court jurors convicted him following a three-day trial. A judge denied a request by Lujan's attorney that his client remain free pending an appeal, and the 60-year-old Lujan was taken into custody by Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies. Lujan was convicted on charges stemming from allegations he helped former Española City Councilor Philip Chacon evade police following a high-speed chase.
- COLD CASE KILLING-IDENTIFICATION
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Police in southern Nevada say they've identified a 17-year-old New Mexico girl as the victim of a killing 41 years ago. They call her case now an active murder investigation. Henderson police say the teen, Tammy Terrell, was last seen with a man and a woman at a restaurant after a state fair in Roswell, New Mexico, in September 1980. Her body was found one week later in a desert area outside Las Vegas. Reports said she was stabbed and beaten to death, possibly with a hammer. With her name unknown, she was dubbed "Arroyo Grande Jane Doe," after the place where she was found.