- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico health officials say 10 people in the state have now tested positive for the new coronavirus, with the new cases including household members of those who had previously tested positive. The new cases in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties come as students pick up laptops and books from school to settle into life at home without public gatherings for at least three weeks. Schools statewide were ordered to close as New Mexico authorities try to isolate known infections from the coronavirus. Catholic churches and schools in central and northern New Mexico also announced closures. The governor acknowledged the closures are difficult and have social and economic impacts.
- DROUGHT-NEW MEXICO
TIJERAS, N.M. (AP) — A mountain village in central New Mexico has been awarded nearly $750,000 in federal funding from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that will be used to help the community bolster its resiliency to drought. The grant for Tijeras is part of an overall announcement made Thursday where 12 projects were selected to receive $7.5 million to increase the reliability of water supplies as well as improve water management and the environment. Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman says communities throughout the West need to take steps to prepare for drought. The latest federal drought map shows more than 40% of the state is dealing with some level of dryness.
- BOWLING ALLEY MASSACRE
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Detectives are examining dozens of new tips related to the massacre at a southern New Mexico bowling alley more than 30 years ago following the announcement of a new reward. KVIA-TV reports the tips come a month after Las Cruces police detectives announced a $30,000 reward for information leading to the suspects behind a deadly robbery that left four dead. Police say two unidentified robbers came into the Las Cruces Bowl in February 1990 and shot seven people before burning a portion of the building. Las Cruces Detective Amador Martinez said he's combing through 50 to 60 tips he's received since holding a news conference in early February.
- MURDER CONVICTION UPHELD
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction of a Raton woman in the fatal 2016 shooting of her boyfriend. The state's highest court unanimously decided Thursday there was sufficient evidence to support Crystal Vigil's conviction. The court also rejected Vigil's arguments that she failed to receive a fair trial. She says the judge prevented the cross-examination of a witness about text messaging statements concerning the murder and declined to make an instruction to the jury that the defense initially requested but later withdrew. Vigil was sentenced to life in prison for killing Zachariah Holderby in the house they shared in Raton. She must serve 30 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.
- AP-US-CENSUS-HIRING
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Census Bureau says it has reached its goal of recruiting more than 2.6 million applicants, but it has been a bumpy road to get there. The agency is facing an abundance of jobs in the U.S. and concerns that some areas won't make recruitment goals. The bureau is working to hire up to a half-million temporary workers before May. An Associated Press analysis shows that low unemployment is complicating the bureau's recruiting efforts. It also demonstrates that urban counties are more likely to hit recruitment goals than rural areas. The bureau has yet to account for how hiring could be affected by novel coronavirus concerns.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's governor announced Thursday that K-12 schools will close for three weeks in an effort to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a news release that the extended closure will begin at the end of the school day Friday. Many public school districts had shorter spring breaks scheduled next week. Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart said the extended closure is designed to guard against the spread of COVID-19 within communities. The state confirmed a sixth positive test for coronavirus for a woman in her 50s from Santa Fe County. New Mexico health officials are temporarily banning many mass gatherings that involve 100 or more people.
- SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal regulators are recommending licensing a proposed multibillion-dollar complex in southern New Mexico that would temporarily store spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors around the United States. But the preliminary recommendation of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is making waves with critics who say the agency did not look closely enough at potential conflicts with locating the facility in the heart of one of the nation's busiest oil and gas basins. New Mexico's governor and other politicians are among those with concerns. But regulators indicated in a draft environmental review released this week that the facility wouldn't interfere with the oil industry or affect the environment.
- AP-US IMMIGRATION-TRANSGENDER DETAINEE
PHOENIX (AP) — Advocates say a transgender woman seeking asylum should be released after she was sexually assaulted and harassed while being detained in an Arizona immigration facility for nine months. Several groups say the woman from Mexico is suffering from PTSD and should be released on humanitarian grounds while she awaits an appeal to her asylum denial. They say transgender immigrants face unsafe conditions in detention and none are being held with members of the gender they identify with. ICE says it prioritizes the health, safety, and welfare of all of those in its care and custody, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people.