- RACIAL INJUSTICE-LAS CRUCES
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico city will seek to adopt racial bias training for police and may require officers to intervene in possible excessive force episodes following the choking death of a Latino man. An agreement between the city of Las Cruces and a lawyer for the family of Antonio Valenzuela announced Thursday was part of the relatives' push to reform the city's police. Police say then-Las Cruces Officer Christopher Smelser applied the chokehold after Valenzuela fled during a traffic stop in February. Valenzuela died at the scene. Smelser was later fired and faces a murder charge. His lawyer says the charge was a political move meant to grab headlines.
- VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHILD CARE
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Working parents in New Mexico are scrambling to find child care as summer programs and in-person public schooling is delayed until at least Labor Day. Hundreds of child care centers remain shuttered due to staffing shortages stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says New Mexico will fall short on meeting everyone's child care needs in the short term. Efforts by Lujan Grisham's newly created child care agency could help, but parents still are having to decide whether to pay for private schooling, cut back hours or create home schooling groups.
- WATER SETTLEMENT-CONSTRUCTION
POJOAQUE PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — Work has started on a project that will bring drinking water to residents of four northern New Mexico pueblos as part of a settlement that ended a decades-long fight over water rights. Federal officials said construction on the Pojoaque Basin regional water system began this week. The pueblos of Pojoaque, Nambe, San Ildefonso and Tesuque will benefit along with other residents of Santa Fe County. The system will divert water from the Rio Grande. It will include treatment facilities, storage tanks and transmission and distribution pipelines with the capability to supply about 3.57 million gallons of drinking water per day.
- HOT SOUTHWEST
PHOENIX (AP) — Excessive heat is expected across the U.S. Southwest into early next week, with forecasters warning of temperatures over 110 degrees in desert cities such as Phoenix and Las Vegas. High temperatures are expected to be be the norm through Monday across much of Arizona, and the National Weather Service said high temperature records might be broken in central and eastern New Mexico. Temperatures were expected to reach 114 degrees in Phoenix on both Friday and Saturday and 113 degrees in Las Vegas on Sunday. According to ta Twitter post by the weather service's Phoenix office, the five-day ""can be described by one word...HOT!"
- SANTA FE MAYOR-NO CONFIDENCE
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Some Santa Fe city employees are calling on the city council to remove Mayor Alan Webber. The city's union approved a 'no confidence' vote Wednesday. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the resolution cites concerns about mismanagement over the past few years — from the death of an electrician last year to a botched plan to remove historical markers and statues following protests this year. Santa Fe Local 3999 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has called for a mayor's removal before. In 2007, the union voted 'no confidence in then-Mayor David Coss over meddling in disciplinary actions.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico health officials are warning residents that fraudulent face mask exemption cards are being distributed to the public. The state Health Department says the cards falsely purport to be issued by the state agency and the U.S. Justice Department. Officials say anyone caught creating or using the cards could face a felony charge. Federal authorities also have issued similar warnings elsewhere that such cards are fake. Face coverings are mandated in New Mexico as part of a public health order aimed at keep the coronavirus in check. Daily case counts in New Mexico have declined since a spike in July.
- AP-US-IMMIGRATION-PRIVATE-PRISON-COMPANIES
HOUSTON (AP) — Speaking to investors last week, the founder of the private prison company GEO Group predicted his company would rebound after the November election. George Zoley and other GEO executives have donated millions of dollars to President Donald Trump and other Republicans supporting restrictive immigration policies that led to thousands of more detainees in the company's jails. Private prison companies that have made billions during the current administration are pushing hard for a victory by Trump and Republicans, but also locking in immigration detention contracts over the last several months that might be difficult for Democrats to unwind.
- RACIAL INJUSTICE-SPANISH LEGACY
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A statue honoring a Hispanic priest and World War II veteran has been vandalized, as have the New Mexico History Museum walls. Police say the vandalism took place Monday on the 340th anniversary of the Pueblo Revolt and appears to be connected to protests targeting Spanish colonial monuments in New Mexico. The bronze statue of Fray Angélico Chávez was hit with red paint. The walls of the museum were painted to say "1680 Land Back" in red. New Mexico State Police spokesman Dusty Franciso says the case is under investigation. No arrests have been made.