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Latest New Mexico news, sports, business and entertainment at 3:20 a.m. MST

  • Cultural preservation among options in oil and gas plan

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sites would be a priority of U.S. land managers under one of the options up for consideration as they work to revamp an outdated guide for management of oil and gas drilling across northwestern New Mexico.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.

  • Lab in New Mexico could begin testing for new virus

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.

  • Convicted New Mexico sect leader seeks new trial

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.

  • Report: Albuquerque Biopark trains see derailments, injuries

ALBUQUERQUE, NM. (AP) — A review of Albuquerque records shows that the city's BioPark zoo train has experienced derailments and injuries. KOB-TV reports a review of five years' worth of maintenance records at Albuquerque City Hall revealed several mentions of derailments. Records show a rear driver side wheel broke off, causing the engine to bottom out and the train to derail in May 2018. Former train conductor James Lakatos says he was thrown from the conductor's chair and was taken to urgent care after reporting back pain. Albuquerque's Cultural Service Department deputy director Hakim Bellamy says injuries on the train are rare.

  • Lawsuit: Black officer who was fired faced harassment

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Court documents say a black New Mexico corrections officer faced constant harassment and was eventually fired after he called in sick and was later spotted at a high school basketball game. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque earlier this month alleged Eric Bland and another black corrections officer suffered "petty harassment." The harassment allegedly followed the appointment of a new supervisor at the Lea County Detention Center in August 2018. Lea County Manager Mike Gallagher says the county does not, has not and will not engage in racial discrimination.

  • US identifies habitat critical for survival of rare 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.

  • New Mexico homeowner ordered to remove pro-Palestinian mural

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico homeowner has been ordered to remove pro-Palestinian murals from an adobe wall outside his Santa Fe home. The Santa Fe Historic Districts Review Board affirmed Tuesday a decision by the city of Santa Fe that required Guthrie Miller to paint over the mural. The artwork depicts armed Israeli soldiers threatening Palestinian children at gunpoint. Jewish leaders had called the mural anti-Semitic. Miller, a retired Los Alamos National Laboratory employee, has allowed other pro-Palestinian artwork to be displayed on his property in the past. He says a Navajo artist created the artwork. The order comes after the same board voted on a plan to destroy a Chicano mural to make way for the new museum.

  • Effort to euthanize family duck draws police attention

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico grandfather's effort to euthanize the family duck drew police attention after residents reported multiple shots fired. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports police initially confiscated a handgun from Lorenzo Pacheco, who had fired four shots at the bird before striking and killing it. Officers had arrived to the scene just before a burial for the bird was about to commence. Kaelyn Pacheco says the duck, a family pet, had become paralyzed and couldn't walk, and it also had an eye infection. Lorenzo Pacheco said police returned his gun to him and determined there was no cause for a charge of negligent use of a firearm.