- IMMERSION ARTS STARTUP-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Arts adventure and entertainment company Meow Wolf says it has surpassed hiring goals outlined in a $1.1 million economic development grant from New Mexico and the city of Santa Fe.Meow Wolf co-founder and board member Vince Kadlubek said Monday the addition of 290 employees since 2018 puts the company ahead of employment requirements under the 2017 grant award for building renovations.
The New Mexico Economic Development Department that monitors the agreement could not immediately verify the employment numbers.
Kadlubek is stepping down as the company's CEO amid plans for an aggressive business expansion into Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.
Visitors have flocked to Meow Wolf's kaleidoscopic walk- and crawl-through exhibit space in Santa Fe since it opened in a converted bowling alley in early 2016.
- FREE MEDICAL SCHOOL
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A University of New Mexico dean has announced plans to ask the state to fund full-ride scholarships to medical students who commit to practicing within the state.The Albuquerque Journal reported Monday that medical school dean Paul Roth has plans to ask the state for $6 million in additional scholarships to create the program.
State officials have estimated an additional $907 million would be available in the coming budget because of an increase in oil production in the southeast.
Roth says he announced the suggestion to address a shortage of doctors in the state.
The dean says the state would pay for upfront cost of medical school with the expectation that the doctor would return to New Mexico and practice for a period or would be subjected to a penalty.
- MISSING PLANE-VICTIM IDENTIFIED
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A passenger killed in a Sept. 26 plane crash in northern New Mexico has been identified as a 29-year-old Colorado man.The New Mexico State Police said Tuesday that the state Office of Medical Investigator identified the passenger as Eric Page of Littleton.
The pilot killed in the crash in mountains in the Pecos Wilderness in Mora County was identified previously as another Littleton resident, 29-year-old Nicholas Peterson.
The single-engine plane was on a flight from Santa Fe to Broomfield, Colorado.
The wreckage was found near Hamilton Mesa after a three-day search. Much of the wreckage was consumed by fire after the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.
- LEGISLATURE-CONFLICTED INTERESTS
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — It has taken three years for the New Mexico Legislature to answer a request for advice about ethical conduct by one of its members.A legislative ethics panel on Monday endorsed a six-page opinion that lawmakers can rely on to provide immunity from sanctions.
It says that a lawmaker must assiduously avoid using a legislative position for professional advantage and that public disclosure is the "polestar" for managing conflicts of interest.
Legislative Council Service Director Raúl Burciaga says the request was submitted three years ago by a lawmaker who wishes to remain anonymous.
It asks about appropriate conduct for a legislator who works as an attorney at a law firm that has state contracts and has partners who are registered lobbyists, as well as other situations.
- THREATENED OWL-TIMBER PROJECTS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It will be up to a federal judge whether to sign off on a proposed order that would clear the way for a tree to be cut and displayed outside the U.S. Capitol building over the holidays.The proposal is the result of an agreement reached Monday between environmentalists and the U.S. Forest Service in a case centered on the threatened Mexican spotted owl.
The plan also allows personal Christmas tree-cutting permits, prescribed fires with stipulations and commercial firewood gathering in certain areas.
A judge has scheduled oral arguments for Nov. 7.
A September order drew criticism for imposing a tree-cutting ban that spanned five national forests in New Mexico and one in Arizona.
The judge later narrowed the order to allow personal firewood permits, but other timber management activities remain sidelined.
- FLU-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel will be getting her flu shot as the state kicks off its campaign to get more people vaccinated this season.Kunkel and Deputy Secretary Abinash Achrekar will be visiting a public health office in Albuquerque on Tuesday. They'll be talking about the importance of annual vaccinations.
Kunkel says flu can be fatal if left untreated.
More than 200 New Mexicans died of flu and flu-related pneumonia during the 2018-2019 flu season.
Earlier this month, the Health Department confirmed the state's first cases of the season. Those included one in Bernalillo County in which a 90-year-old patient died.
Officials say young children and older adults are the most vulnerable.
The flu season typically runs through the end of April.
- SWAT BREAKS UP BIRTHDAY PARTY
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A SWAT team looking for a suspected accomplice in a forged-check case was forced to break up a birthday party for an 8-year-old Albuquerque boy.KOAT-TV reports the armed SWAT team on Saturday surrounded Christina Rain's home as she held a birthday gathering for her son and had to try to corral the young attendees inside.
A suspect had fled police from a Walmart and eventually barricade himself in the storage shed in Rain's backyard.
Police then ordered Rain and the rest of the party-goers out of the house and to a nearby park.
Authorities say the man was taken into custody.
After the excitement, Rain told a KOAT-TV reporter the young party-goers were heading back to the house to have some birthday cake.
- NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE-TRIBES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Native American leaders from New Mexico are opposing plans that call for storing in the desert Southwest tons of spent nuclear fuel from power plants around the U.S.
The All Pueblo Council of Governors in a resolution adopted late last week affirmed its commitment to protecting tribal natural and cultural resources.
The council — representing 20 sovereign pueblo nations — is worried about risks associated with transporting the waste to New Mexico and West Texas from sites around the country.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and others also are opposed to the plans because the federal government has yet to develop any long-term solutions for handling the fuel.
The pueblos also pointed to a lack of consultation regarding transport routes and emergency response training in case of an accident.