- NEW MEXICO UNEMPLOYMENT
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico reports a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.9% in June.The rate is down from 5% in May and up from 4.8% in June 2018.
The department said Friday that total nonagricultural payroll employment grew by 15,200 jobs or 1.8%, between June 2018 and June 2019.
The private sector accounted for the vast majority of the 1.8% increase.
- ALBUQUERQUE-PANHANDLING
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A judge says Albuquerque's panhandling ordinance restricts free speech and is unconstitutional.The Albuquerque ordinance's language had prohibited panhandlers from standing on sidewalks and medians in the city's streets to solicit motorists, with the sponsor saying it was intended to make streets safer.
The measure was passed in 2017, but hadn't been enforced since early 2018 when the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the city on behalf of four people.
The plaintiffs included a woman who was homeless and regularly sought donations on the street, a couple who handed out donations from their vehicles and a woman who distributed fliers to drivers at red lights.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that U.S. District Judge Robert Brack's ruling came Thursday.
- APPOINTMENTS-INTERSTATE STREAM COMMISSION
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has appointed seven members to a New Mexico commission tasked with overseeing water dispute negotiations with other states and overseeing conservation projects for the state's stream systems.The governor said Friday that she also had re-appointed an eighth member, Mark Sanchez, to be the Interstate Stream Commission's chair.
Commission members must come from different parts of the state, and at least one must be a tribe or pueblo member. They serve six-year terms.
The new members are Aron Balok , Bidtah Becker , Greg Carrasco , Paula Garcia , Mike Hamman , Stacy Timmons and Tanya Trujillo.
They join the panel after commissioners last month delayed action on a plan that details environmental reviews and other work on the controversial Gila River diversion plan.
- HORSE RACING-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — One of the five commissioners responsible for overseeing New Mexico's horse racing industry has been ousted over comments she made regarding changes in the way horses are tested for certain medications.The governor's office confirmed Friday that Freda McSwane was removed from Racing Commission earlier this week.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press indicate state attorneys were concerned that comments McSwane made in May during a public meeting implied bias that could potentially prompt more legal complications in the ongoing testing fight.
McSwane did not return messages seeking comment.
The commission is wading through numerous appeals after some owners and trainers complained they should have been given a grace period when the state began using a new testing lab.
With the change, more samples turned up positive for corticosteroids, which are used to treat swelling and joint pain.
- CONGRESS-MINIMUM WAGE-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — One of New Mexico's congresswomen broke ranks with fellow Democrats as the U.S. House approved legislation to raise the federal minimum wage.U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small says she's for raising the minimum wage but that $15 was too high.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Torres Small had heard from constituents in the 2nd Congressional District that such a boost would have a devastating effect on small businesses, especially those in rural areas.
U.S. Reps. Ben Ray Lujan and Deb Haaland voted for the bill.
The last increase in the federal minimum wage occurred 10 years ago, the longest stretch without an adjustment since the wage floor was first enacted during the 1930s.
Under the bill, tipped workers would be required to be paid the same as others earning the minimum.
- BURNING CAR-BODY IN TRUNK
CHURCH ROCK, N.M. (AP) — The FBI has identified a man from Zuni as the person whose body was found in the truck of a burning car in New Mexico.Authorities say they found 51-year-old Nastacio Keith Travis on Monday in a remote area north of Church Rock, a town along Interstate 40 on the Navajo Nation.
He was identified by the FBI in an email on Friday. An autopsy is pending to determine how he died.
Authorities are asking for information from anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area on Monday between 6 and 7 a.m.
- UNITED STATES-MEXICO-ASYLUM
US expands 'Remain in Mexico' at dangerous part of borderHOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. government will expand its policy requiring asylum seekers to wait outside the country to one of Mexico's most dangerous cities.
The Department of Homeland Security said Friday it will implement its "Migrant Protection Protocols" in Brownsville, Texas, across the border from Matamoros, Mexico. DHS says it anticipates the first asylum seekers will be sent back to Mexico starting Friday.
Thousands of people are already camped in Matamoros, at the eastern edge of the U.S.-Mexico border. An official waiting list to seek asylum has more than 1,000 people.
Matamoros is in Mexico's Tamaulipas state, which the U.S. government warns citizens not to visit due to violence and kidnappings.
The city is also near where a Salvadoran father and his 23-month-old daughter were found drowned in the Rio Grande, in photos that were shared around the world.
- NEW MEXICO LOTTERY-RAISE
.SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Lottery Authority has increased its CEO's base annual pay to $220,000 — a move drawing criticism by those who argue the money should be going into a scholarship program.
Lottery board Chairman Dan Salzwedel told the Albuquerque Journal on Thursday that the 26% increase for CEO David Barden is smaller than it appears because the new salary agreement does not include several bonus pay incentives that the previous contract offered.
Barden's three-year agreement does include a one-time $8,800 salary retention adjustment and a severance package if he's fired.
Think New Mexico Executive Director Fred Nathan says the board should be focused on maximizing scholarship funds.
The group advocated for the state requirement for the lottery to put 30% of its gross sales into a college scholarship program.