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Latest New Mexico news, sports, business and entertainment at 11:20 a.m. MDT

  • SCHOOLS CHIEF-STATE SENATE

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The superintendent of the Santa Fe Public Schools district has ended her bid for a state Senate seat a week after announcing her candidacy.Veronica Garcia said Thursday she doesn't have time to run the school district and campaign.
Garcia had planned to run as a Democrat for the Albuquerque-area seat held by Republic Sen. Mark Moores where she lives. District 21 leans Republican.
She told The Santa Few New Mexican she had been inspired to run by a state district judge's ruling that said vulnerable students are denied the right to an education because schools are underfunded. She says she wanted an opportunity to respond as a lawmaker.
Garcia's contract as superintendent in Santa Fe ends in June 2021.
She served as state education secretary under former Gov. Bill Richardson.

  • NATIONAL PARKS-CAMPGROUNDS

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Food trucks. Wi-Fi. Hot showers.Those campground upgrades could be coming to a national park near you.
The Interior Department is considering recommendations to modernize campgrounds within the National Park Service.
The recommendations posted this week come from an advisory committee created under former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. It has been looking at ways for private businesses to operate on public lands.
Derrick Crandall is the vice chairman of the Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee. He says many campgrounds fail to meet visitors' expectations and allowing the private sector to run them would free up money for maintenance elsewhere in the parks.
National parks have more than 1,400 campgrounds combined. About 6% are operated by concessionaires.
Environmentalists say the proposal would price out some visitors and benefit special interest groups.

  • O'KEEFFE MUSEUM-CONSERVATION

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum has won a grant from Bank of America that will support conservation of the artist's pivotal painting entitled "Spring."In addition to supporting research and conservation, the funding will enable the museum to share its work online.
Officials say "Spring" marks a turning point in O'Keeffe's life.
Her husband, famed photographer Alfred Stieglitz, died in 1946 and for three years, she suspended her trips to New Mexico to stay in New York and settle his estate. "Spring" is one of her few creations from that period.
The conservation work will address cracks, flaking paints and darkening surface stains.
The painting also has a history of water damage caused by a leak in O'Keeffe's Abiquiú home. The conservation and research into the painting's past treatments are expected to take about a year.

  • THE CASAGRANDES

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Nickelodeon's "The Casagrandes" premiered this week and became one of the first cartoons in U.S. history to feature a multigenerational Mexican American family.The long awaited spin-off from the network's popular animation series, "The Loud House," comes as more networks take chances on Latino-themed shows.
The series centers around an 11-year-old Mexican American, skateboarding girl trying to survive in the fictional town of Great Lake City. Her apartment is above The Casagrandes bodega, owned by grandpa and in front of a subway track.
Unlike some previous cartoons with Latinos, "The Casagrandes" seeks to tackle family-oriented themes like love, friendship, and jealousy.
Supervising director Miguel Puga says creators wanted to show how normal and relatable Latino families are.

  • NURSING PARTNERSHIP

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — One of the state's largest health care providers is partnering with the University of New Mexico's nursing college to expand access to health care in rural communities by creating a new residency program.The program will be paid for by a $3.2 million grant awarded to Presbyterian Healthcare Services by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.
The program will focus on providing care in medically underserved areas.
The clinics that will be part of the residency are in Capitan, Carrizozo, Corona, Ruidoso, southwest Albuquerque, Socorro, Belen, Los Lunas and Tucumcari.
Officials say all but one of the communities served through the grant also have higher than average poverty rates.
The priorities for the residents who will participate in the program include combating the opioid crisis and addressing mental health issues.

  • TEENAGERS KILLED-SUSPECTS INDICTED

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say three men and a 15-year-old boy have been indicted in the slayings of two Albuquerque teenagers near Rio Rancho last year.Bernalillo County prosecutors announced Thursday that 43-year-old Stephen Goldman Sr., his 20-year-old son Stephen Goldman Jr., 23-year-old Jimmie Akins and the teen remain jailed.
They say Atkins, the teenager and the younger Goldman each are facing charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and tampering with evidence.
Prosecutors say the older Goldman is accused of tampering with evidence.
Authorities say 14-year-old Ahmed Lateef and 15-year-old Collin Romero were reported missing last Dec. 16 after allegedly being kidnapped from a home in the Northeast Heights.
Their bodies were a few weeks later buried in shallow graves.
Authorities say the two teens had been shot, beaten and stabbed.

  • ENDANGERED WOLVES

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Dozens of environmental groups and scientists are asking U.S. wildlife managers to rethink how they plan to ensure the survival of Mexican gray wolves in the American Southwest.Following a loss in federal court, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working on crafting a new rule to guide management of the endangered predators in New Mexico and Arizona.
The coalition says that rule should be based on "an entirely new approach" that incorporates the best science while acknowledging the recovery effort's past shortcomings.
The groups on Wednesday sent a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and federal wildlife managers.
They're asking that the process to revise the management rule be public and that a wide range of alternatives be considered since the program has faltered over the years.

  • BORDER PATROL-HOSPITALS

MIAMI (AP) — Medical professionals and human rights advocates warn Border Patrol agents are growing their presence at hospitals and creating a chilling effect on immigrant populations around the country.A Border Patrol agent was seen earlier this week freely roaming the hallways of a Miami-area hospital as he waited for a woman who fell ill during her detention. The agent in olive green uniform stepped in and out of the room as the woman received treatment.
Hospitals around the country are struggling with where to draw the line to protect patients' rights while meeting rising immigration enforcement demands in the Trump administration.
The agency that oversees Border Patrol said earlier this year that its agents averaged 69 trips to the hospital a day.