- LAS CRUCES SCHOOLS-BILINGUAL PROGRAMS
Las Cruces school district wants to boost bilingual programsLAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A southern New Mexico school district is calling on state lawmakers to adopt sound policies and provide adequate funding to help it maintain bilingual and multicultural education programs.
The Las Cruces district made the request Tuesday, while touting the success of its programs.
The district says 85% of its schools have dual language and maintenance programs where students receive instruction in English and Spanish.
District officials say they have been successful with implementing the programs due to support from school leadership, the school board and teachers. They also pointed to their relationship with New Mexico State University, which provides access to a network of expertise.
During the last school year, 99 students graduated high school with a state seal of bilingualism. The district wants to increase that number.
- OIL BOOM-HIGHWAY FUNDING
New Mexico highway project wins federal grant fundingLOVING, N.M. (AP) — A multimillion-dollar transportation project in southeastern New Mexico will get a boost through a federal grant program aimed at repairing, rebuilding and revitalizing significant infrastructure projects across the country.
The U.S. Transportation Department announced the grant winners Tuesday. They include the U.S. 285 safety and resiliency project in the Permian Basin, where an oil boom has resulted in increased traffic.
Officials say the estimated cost of the project is $115 million. The grant is worth $12.5 million.
The criteria that federal officials looked at in awarding the competitive grants included safety, economic competitiveness, quality of life, environmental sustainability, innovation and the range of partners involved.
In all, the Trump administration is investing $900 million in infrastructure through the grant program. The funding was awarded to 55 projects in 35 states.
- NEW MEXICO BROADBAND
Broadband workshops planned for New MexicoALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Broadband workshops are planned in New Mexico as the rural state looks to boost high-speed online access.
The U.S. Agriculture Department's rural development division is working with the state and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to host meetings this week in Truth or Consequences and Albuquerque.
Census figures show almost 30% of New Mexico residents have no internet subscription of any type while 55% of residents have a subscription such as fiber, cable or DSL at home.
Officials say that means nearly half the homes in New Mexico don't currently benefit from a high-speed broadband connection.
A recent report by legislative analysts found that state and federal investments totaling over $300 million have succeeded in connecting schools, hospitals and other institutions, but many rural areas remain unserved.
- CENSUS 2020-NEW MEXICO
Anxiety grows in New Mexico over 2020 CensusSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico state officials want to spend an additional $8 million to ensure residents are not left out of the 2020 Census.
Population-studies expert Robert Rhatigan of the University of New Mexico told a panel of lawmakers Tuesday that state finance and workforce officials still fear an undercount that could reduce federal spending in New Mexico by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Lawmakers this year set aside $3.4 million to help counties, public schools and Native American communities encourage participation in the federal population survey. An additional $8 million is now being sought for the effort by the administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Remote desert communities and gaps in communications infrastructure make New Mexico one of the hardest states to accura
- MARIJUANA-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico sizes up potential of recreational pot marketSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Legislators in New Mexico are sizing up the potential taxable market for recreational marijuana if the state moves forward with legalization proposals next year.
A panel of state lawmakers is scheduled Wednesday to hear testimony on the potential economic benefits of brining recreational cannabis sales under state regulation and oversight.
Troy Lapsys of medical cannabis manufacturer PhytoRemedies in Albuquerque estimates statewide illicit marijuana sales at about $450 million annually.
That is more than four times the size of New Mexico's current market for medical cannabis.
New Mexico's medical cannabis program was started in 2007 and serves more than 70,000 registered patients.
Medical cannabis supplier Ultra Health contends that the approval of high taxes and stiff restrictions on recreational marijuana suppliers could prolong the black market.
- FUGITIVE ARRESTS-BARR-THE LATEST
The Latest: Barr touts crime-fighting effort in New MexicoALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Attorney General William Barr and other federal officials say nearly 330 fugitives suspected of violent crimes have been arrested as part of a crime-fighting initiative in New Mexico.
Barr was in Albuquerque on Tuesday to highlight the results of Operation Triple Beam, a program that has been conducted in numerous U.S. cities and has led to hundreds of arrests.
The arrests in the Albuquerque area included several dozen state probation and parole absconders as well as fugitives wanted for homicide, assault, sex crimes and drug charges. More than 90 arrests were made in Santa Fe and Farmington.
Federal authorities also recovered 31 stolen vehicles and seized illegal firearms, drugs and $50,000 in cash.
Barr said the operation has been targeted at violent, gang-related crime in some of America's most dangerous cities.
- NAVAJO COAL
Navajo leader: Tribe won't financially back energy companyFLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation president says the tribe will not financially back the bonds a tribal energy company needs for a trio of newly acquired coal mines off the reservation.
The Navajo Transitional Energy Co. recently bought Montana's largest coal mine and two others in Wyoming at auction after Cloud Peak Energy declared bankruptcy.
The three mines employ hundreds of people. State officials say the mines can keep operating for now because reclamation bonds posted by Cloud Peak remain in place. The bonds are estimated at more than $370 million.
Navajo President Jonathan Nez said Tuesday that he's canceled agreements the tribal company might rely on to seek the Navajo Nation's financial backing for the bonds.
Navajo Nation lawmakers had been considering legislation to do the same.
- BORDER WALL-LAWSUIT
Border wall foes try to stop construction as sections builtSAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal appeals court has heard arguments to halt the military-funded construction of President Donald Trump's border wall with Mexico.
American Civil Liberties Union attorney Dror Ladin told a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that the administration is building it quickly since the Supreme Court denied an emergency plea in July to temporarily put construction on hold.
The ACLU says the wall is going up in Organ Pipe National Monument in Arizona, more bulldozers are being dispatched and large amounts of water are being used to make concrete.
Ladin says the ACLU would ask for the wall to be demolished if the group wins its case after it is built.
The administration says Trump was allowed to divert Pentagon funds to build it.