Court weighs clash on online publication of voting records
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A conservative-backed foundation that posts voting registration records online is urging a federal judge to override objections by New Mexico election regulators who say the initiative violates state law and would discourage voter participation. At a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge James Browning peppered attorneys with questions but took no immediate action. The VoteRef.com website does not list details of how people voted regarding candidates or initiatives. The Voter Reference Foundation has posted voter rolls from at least 20 states that can be searched by names or addresses to verify where people live and view whether they voted in various past elections.
$121.5M settlement in New Mexico clergy sex abuse scandal
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — One of the oldest Catholic dioceses in the United States has announced a settlement agreement to resolve a bankruptcy case in New Mexico that resulted from a clergy sex abuse scandal. The tentative deal announced Tuesday totals $121.5 million and would involve about 375 claimants. The chairman of a creditors committee that negotiated the agreement said it would result in one of the largest diocese contributions to a bankruptcy settlement in U.S. history. It also includes an agreement to create a public archive of documents regarding the history of the sexual abuse claims. The archbishop of Santa Fe said he hopes it's the next step in the healing of those who have been harmed.
New Mexico fires prompt forest closures; governor seeks aid
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Three of New Mexico's five national forests will be off limits to the public starting this week due to active wildfires and extreme fire danger. The announcement came Tuesday as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the damage from a record-setting fire burning in northern New Mexico will be significant with estimates of burned structures likely to range between 1,000 and 1,500 as more assessments are done. The governor stressed that was a rough estimate. The fire has charred more than 468 square miles over the last 42 days and evacuation orders remain in place for some surrounding villages. Wildfires also are burning elsewhere in New Mexico as hot and dry conditions persist.
Man convicted in fatal shooting of a Santa Fe star athlete
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting of a Santa Fe High School basketball star nearly two years ago. A jury on Tuesday returned the verdict against Estevan Montoya in the August 2020 shooting of Fedonta "JB" White. Prosecutors say Montoya was 16 at the time of the incident and the 18-year-old White was shot at a house party in Chupadero in front of numerous witnesses. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Montoya took the stand in his own defense Monday and said he shot White in self-defense after a two argued. Prosecutors say Montoya went to the party armed and lured White into a fistfight before shooting him point blank and running away.
Albuquerque Asian-owned businesses getting boost in security
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque's Asian American community is testing a new way to bolster security for Asian-owned businesses in the wake of two deadly shootings. KOAT-TV reported Sunday that an Albuquerque start-up is trying out an online service that connects armed security guards with Asian-owned businesses. Businesses would report suspicious activity to "toServo." The service puts them in touch with a private security team. There are hopes to expand its use by the end of the year. The city's Asian community has been on edge since shootings at two Asian-owned spas. The female owner of one was shot and killed in January. A second woman died the same way a month later.
Death penalty sought in Texas for man who admitted killing 5
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors in Texas say they will seek the death penalty for a man who authorities have said confessed to killing five people, including three whose dismembered bodies were found in a burning dumpster last year. The Tarrant County district attorney's office said Monday that they've filed the paperwork to seek the death penalty for 41-year-old Jason Thornburg. He was arrested in September on a charge of capital murder in the deaths of three people whose bodies were found in a burning dumpster in Fort Worth. Thornburg's arrest warrant says he confessed to killing those three as well as his roommate and girlfriend, a Navajo woman from New Mexico who went missing after traveling to Arizona with him.
New US hospitals face fiscal crisis over COVID relief money
THOMASVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A handful of U.S. hospitals are facing a financial crisis that officials say was caused by the federal government's rules for pandemic relief money. A trio of hospitals in Alabama, Kansas and New Mexico say they're not getting as much assistance as other hospitals because they're so new they can't prove financial losses from before the pandemic. In rural southwest Alabama, Thomasville Regional Medical Center says it's in danger of closing after just two years. Federal health officials say all three hospitals have gotten some money from the CARES Act, and no health providers are getting all their losses reimbursed.
In US, states struggle to replace fossil fuel tax revenue
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Major energy producing states from Alaska to Pennsylvania are reaping a windfall from soaring oil and natural gas prices, stoked by the war in Ukraine and the U.S.-led ban on Russian oil imports. The boost threatens to increase state and local governments' entrenched reliance on fossil fuels in their budgets, revenue that pays for schools, roads and policing. Officials say they realize the need to move toward cleaner energy sources that don't contribute to climate change, but also say they will need a way to replace the tax revenue their states and communities receive from fossil fuel extraction.