- OBIT-CODE TALKER-PINTO-THE LATEST
The Latest: Governor: Navajo lawmaker was American heroSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is paying tribute to deceased Navajo Code Talker and state Sen. John Pinto as a wise and gracious lawmaker who fought to preserve American freedoms in World War II.
Pinto was New Mexico's longest serving state senator upon his death Friday at age 94.
Lujan Grisham calls Pinto a state icon and an American hero, describing his 42-year career in the Legislature and wartime service as a Marine.
She says she will miss Pinto's good humor in the state Capitol.
- WOMAN RAN OVER-ARREST-THE LATEST
The Latest: Police make 2nd arrest in pedestrian case(Information from: The Daily Times, http://www.daily-times.com)
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — Authorities in northwestern New Mexico have made a second arrest in the case of a pedestrian who was repeatedly run over by a man who police say was fleeing after stealing from a dollar store.
Bloomfield police arrested 40-year-old Antoinette Gutierrez on Friday. She's being held on a felony charge of accessory to knowingly leaving the scene of an accident.
Detectives accused Gutierrez of instructing Eddie Hernandez to leave the scene and assisted him by getting into the driver's seat of the vehicle. She then told witnesses and the responding officers that she was the driver who struck the elderly woman.
Hernandez is facing five felony counts, including leaving the scene of an accident and causing great bodily harm by vehicle.
A witness told police that her grandmother was walking to her car Tuesday when an SUV hit her, and then it drove back and forth over her.
- HANTAVIRUS-NEW MEXICO
Agency: 1st hantavirus case for 2019 reported in New MexicoSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico health officials report that a 50-year-old McKinley County woman is the state's first reported case this year of hantavirus, a severely respiratory illness that can be deadly.
The Department of Health's announcement Friday that deer mice are the main carries of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in New Mexico, with the virus found in mice droppings and urine.
According to the department, a person can contract hantavirus by breathing in mist or dust when droppings or urine containing the virus are stirred up and the virus is put into the air.
The department says people can also get hantavirus by touching their eyes, nose, or mouth after they have touched droppings or urine that contains the virus.
- CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE-LIFE
Man faces life in prison for child sexual abuse convictionsALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a San Felipe Pueblo man faces life in prison after being convicted by a jury of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for New Mexico says a life sentence is mandatory for 48-year-old Tyrone Coriz because he had a previous federal conviction for a sex crime in 1992 involving a different victim.
Federal court jurors in Albuquerque convicted Coriz in the latest case on Wednesday.
- FILM-COMEBACK TRAIL
Big names headed to New Mexico to film 'The Comeback Trail'SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman soon will be on their way to New Mexico to start work on "The Comeback Trail."
The feature film will begin shooting in early June in Albuquerque, Tojajilee and other locations. Work is expected to last about a month and will include more than a dozen New Mexico actors and about 300 extras.
Directed by George Gallo, the film is about two movie producers who owe money to the mob. They set up an aging movie star as part of a scam to save themselves but wind up getting more than they bargained for.
The state film office will be hosting Gallo for a screening of his film "Midnight Run" on Saturday at the Guild Cinema in Albuquerque.
- SCHOOL VOUCHERS-ARIZONA-THE LATEST
The Latest: Arizona House OKs Navajo school voucher fixPHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona House has unanimously approved emergency legislation giving a handful of Navajo children another year to use their vouchers for tuition at a private New Mexico Christian school.
The Senate is expected to act soon on the bipartisan legislation approved on a 60-0 House vote in a session that ended at 2 a.m. Friday
The proposal sidesteps a law requiring vouchers to be used at Arizona schools after the Department of Education discovered the vouchers were being used out of state.
The plight of the seven children rocketed to lawmakers' attention when the school-choice advocacy group American Federation for Children released a video over the weekend. It showed parents blasting the Education Department for letters demanding they repay the money illegally spent out of state.
- AGRICULTURAL LEASES
New Mexico land office weighs changes to agricultural leasesSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The State Land Office is considering changes to rules that govern agricultural leases.
The agency has scheduled a Friday hearing in Santa Fe to take public comments on the proposed amendments, which would modify the requirements for applications to renew an agricultural lease.
Rather than requiring applicants to provide an antiquated appraisement form to capture the value of the land, the agency would look to existing formulas to determine value and rental fees.
The changes also would allow applicants to seek a re-evaluation of the carrying capacity for grazing land.
Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard says she's been looking for ways to streamline the agency's processes.
She says agriculture accounts for the agency's largest geographical business operation, with about 12,750 square miles (over 35,612 square kilometers) of state trust land used for grazing.
- VEHICULAR HOMICIDE-SENTENCING
Las Cruces man gets prison sentence in ex-girlfriend's deathLAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A Las Cruces man has been sentenced to nine years in prison in a vehicular homicide case.
Prosecutors say 40-year-old Angel Saenz also must serve three years of probation with 100 hours of community service in the 2017 death of his ex-girlfriend Sonia Castillo.
He faced charges of homicide by vehicle and knowingly leaving the scene of an accident.
Saenz was convicted for running over the 42-year-old Castillo with his pickup truck in December 2017.
Authorities say Castillo died at a hospital from multiple injuries sustained in the incident.
According to police records, Castillo had requested a restraining order against Saenz the moth before the fatal hit-and-run accident.