- IMMIGRATION-ASYLUM
SAN DIEGO (AP) — An federal appeals court has temporarily halted a major Trump administration policy to make asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their cases wind through U.S. immigration courts. A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Friday in a 2-1 vote to put on hold the policy that furthered President Donald Trump's asylum crackdown. The "Remain in Mexico" policy – known officially as "Migrant Protection Protocols" - took effect in January 2019 in San Diego and has spread across the border. Nearly 60,000 people have been sent back since the policy began. The question before the judges was whether to let the policy take effect during legal challenge
- FREE TUITION-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The University of New Mexico has announced it will offer free tuition for first-time students whose families make $50,000 or less. The Lobo First-Year Promise scholarship program was announced Thursday and is only available to next fall's freshmen class. University officials say the scholarship will cover tuition and fees not covered by other scholarships, grants and financial aid. The university capped the qualifying household income at $50,000. That's about the state median income. University officials estimate up to 1,500 students are eligible for the program. Officials say the program could cost the university more than $9 million based on current tuition and fees.
- AP-US-CHACO-CANYON-DRILLING
ALBUQUERQUE, N .M. (AP) — The preservation and protection of Native American cultural sites would be a priority of U.S. land managers under one of the options up for consideration as they work to revamp an outdated guide for management of oil and gas drilling across northwestern New Mexico. The area is home to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, which has become the focal point of tribes, environmentalists and archaeologists who want to halt development beyond the boundaries of the World Heritage site. The public will have 90 days to comment on the alternatives. It could take months before a final decision is made.
- IRRIGATION SEASON-RIO GRANDE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The 2020 irrigation season for farmers along the lower Rio Grande will begin in the coming days when U.S. water managers begin releasing water from one of New Mexico's largest dams. The Bureau of Reclamation cautioned people below Elephant Butte and Caballo reservoirs that water will be flowing again through the dry riverbed. Initial releases from both reservoirs could reach around 2,000 cubic feet per second. The flows will fluctuate throughout the season. Officials say they're watching snowpack measurements and spring streamflow forecasts to prepare for operations. Early forecasts indicate that runoff is close to average on the Rio Grande.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO TESTING
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Health officials in New Mexico say samples from people suspected of having the new virus that started in China will soon be tested by an Albuquerque laboratory. The samples from New Mexico have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state has no confirmed cases of the virus that originated from China, which also known as COVID-19. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Wednesday that state Epidemiologist Michael Landen expects the state to soon begin its own testing. That means doctors will be able to send samples to the proposed lab in Albuquerque instead of a federal lab. It is unclear when the lab would open.
- RELIGIOUS SECT-CHILD ABUSE
GRANT, N.M. (AP) — A leader in a rural New Mexico paramilitary religious sect convicted of kidnapping and sexual abuse is seeking a new trial. The Gallup Independent reports lawyers for Deborah Green, leader of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, filed a motion recently after they say prosecutors did not disclose specific evidence. Green was sentenced in September 2018 to 72 years in prison after being convicted of child abuse and other charges. Authorities raided the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps' secluded Fence Lake, New Mexico, compound in 2017 following a lengthy investigation.
- SHOOTING-INTERSTATE 40
HOLBROOK. Ariz. (AP) — A 53-mile stretch of westbound Interstate 40 is closed east of Holbrook in northeastern Arizona because of a law enforcement situation involving gunfire. The Arizona Department of Public Safety says at least one trooper was involved but that no troopers or suspects were injured. Westbound I-40 is closed because of the investigation and the state Department of Transportation says the closure is expected to be extended. ADOT says westbound traffic is being detoured off I-40 at Sanders and back to I-40 at Holbrook via U.S. 191 and U.S. 180. The detour is 109 miles long.
- THREATENED SONGBIRD
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — US wildlife managers have proposed setting aside a vast area across seven Western states as critical habitat for a rare songbird. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made public its recommendation Thursday for the western yellow-billed cuckoo. If approved, the designation would affect activities that involve federal funding or permitting along hundreds of miles of rivers and streams from Arizona and New Mexico north to Idaho. A threatened species, the cuckoo travels each spring and fall between its breeding grounds in Mexico and the U.S to its wintering grounds in Central and South America, often using river corridors as routes.