- SUBSTITUTE TEACHING-REGULATIONS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A new law and regulations are requiring more retired New Mexico teachers to limit the amount of time they spend in a classroom or take off a year.The Albuquerque Journal reports legislative and Educational Retirement Board rule changes altered eligibility requirements for retirees who go back to work in education while collecting a pension.
New Mexico Educational Retirement Board executive director Jan Goodwin says retirees who collect their pension can't work more than a quarter of full-time equivalent hours unless they are part of the "return to work program."
Under the program, which is already in place, retirees can work as many hours as they like, but can't join the program until they take a year off from education.
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- CITY MANAGER-HARASSMENT
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. (AP) — A former New Mexico city manager fired for alleged misconduct has settled his wrongful termination lawsuit.KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas, reports former Sunland Park city manager Bob Gallagher said last week he's been vindicated thanks to a $211,000 payout from the city over his August 2017 termination.
Sunland Park is not admitting to any fault and city officials declined to comment on the settlement.
Gallagher says he was fired after he refused to comply with several directives from three city councilors who wanted him to engage in questionable actions.
An independent investigation failed to turn up evidence of corruption and no charges were brought.
Gallagher also faced allegations of sexual harassment as the city manager of Jal in southeast New Mexico. But a lawsuit there was recently dismissed.
- PRIVATE WATERWAYS-RECREATIONISTS
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A state commission's decision may reopen New Mexico's private waterways to recreationists.The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the New Mexico Game Commission last week handed fishermen and other recreational boaters a partial victory by temporarily halting a program for private property owners. Under the 2017 program, private property owners have say over whether the public can access waterways on their land.
The current commission, appointed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, decided Wednesday to impose a 90-day moratorium on the rule until it can receive advice from Attorney General Hector Balderas as to whether it is legal under state law.
A previous commission, appointed by Republican then-Gov. Susana Martinez, implemented a program in 2017 that allowed landowners to certify rivers and streams that cut through their property as "non-navigable."
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- IMMIGRATION-HUNGER STRIKE
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — An attorney for three Indian nationals seeking asylum in the U.S. says they have been forced to receive IV drips at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas as they approach their third week of a hunger strike.A court official says the U.S. Department of Justice filed orders with federal judges last week that relate to non-consensual hydration or feeding for four men.
Linda Corchado, who represents three of the four men named in the court orders, says the men have been locked up for months and they are trying to appeal or reopen asylum claims that were denied. She says as of Sunday, they had gone 20 days without food.
Lawyers and activists who spoke with the men fear that force-feeding may be next.
Corchado says the fourth man is also Indian and is represented by another attorney. It's unclear if that man was also forced to accept an IV.
- ROSWELL-HOMICIDE CASE
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Police in Roswell say they're investigating the death of a woman as a homicide.They say officers were called to the scene around 11 p.m. Friday and 40-year-old Jennifer Morro was found dead at the scene.
Police didn't immediately release any details on the woman's death or how long the body had been at the location where it was found.
They are asking that anyone with any information in the case to call Roswell police or the Chavez County Crime Stoppers hotline.
- AREA 51-FACEBOOK EVENT
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The phone hasn't stopped ringing at a 10-room motel in the remote Nevada desert since a Facebook post invited people to "storm" the mysterious nearby Area 51 site in September.Connie West at the Little A'le'Inn tells the Las Vegas Sun it's a little scary to think how many people could descend on her town of just 54 residents.
More than 1 million people have responded to the internet post calling for people to run into the remote test area long the focus of UFO conspiracy theories.
The U.S. Air Force is warning people not to try.
Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee doesn't expect many people to actually show up, but says even several hundred could create problems.
He says someone might get hurt, and that's nothing to joke about.
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- MIGRANT SHELTER-VOLUNTEERS
DEMING, N.M. (AP) — Volunteers are using translation apps and helping raise money for a migrant shelter near the U.S.-Mexico border in a small New Mexico city.The Deming Headlight reports volunteers are aiding in running the Deming National Guard Armory which has been set up as a temporary migrant shelter amid a humanitarian crisis along the border.
Volunteers are stuffing travel bags for migrants, helping arrange travel arrangements to sponsors in the U.S. and working to provide services for asylum seekers.
Deming migrant operation Ray Trejo says 10,000 asylum seekers from Brazil and all parts of Central America have been processed through Deming in recent months.
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- BORDER ACTIVIST TRIAL-SEALED DOCUMENTS
Documents detail probe of man charged with aiding migrantsTUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Federal authorities for months suspected a humanitarian group of harboring immigrants, eventually resulting in felony charges against a volunteer who says he was simply being a good Samaritan.
The revelation comes in unsealed court documents sought by The Intercept and other news media organizations, including The Associated Press.
They deal with the arrest of Scott Warren, of Ajo, Arizona, who was tried on conspiracy, harboring and transporting immigrant charges in June. The jury couldn't agree on a verdict, and a new trial has been scheduled for November.
The documents show that the Border Patrol began investigating the group in April 2017 after getting a tip that it was harboring immigrants at its camp in Ajo.
But the government says Warren was harboring two men at the No More Deaths facility.