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Latest New Mexico news, sports, business and entertainment at 3:20 p.m. MDT

  • EDUCATION FUNDING-NEW MEXICO

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico legislature is advancing a constitutional amendment to increase funding programs for children for decades to come. The state Senate is considering an additional 1.25% withdrawal from an educational endowment that has nearly doubled in the last decade to $20 billion. The Finance Committee is voting along party lines to advance the bill. Republicans say it will deplete the fund too quickly. Democrats united behind it after including K-12 funding. The additional withdrawals would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five years. Most of the increase would support programs for children 5 and under. 

  • CONGRESS-HAALAND'S SUCCESSOR

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Rep. Deb Haaland's departure from Congress to serve as Interior secretary will trigger a special election to choose a successor, starting with a rarely invoked nomination process that relies on party insiders. Haaland's farewell to the House of Representatives on Tuesday sets in motion a June general election for her 1st Congressional District seat. Major party nominees will be chosen by central committee members. First Congressional District voters rejected the Democratic nominee under similar procedures in 1998 to elect Republican Heather Wilson. The district has grown increasingly progressive since then.

  • ENDANGERED WOLVES

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials are asking a federal judge for more time to rewrite rules that guide management of Mexican gray wolves in the wild. The population of endangered predators is starting to rebound despite many hurdles since releases began more than two decades ago. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contends that progress is being made under the current rules and that extra time is needed to gather more data and to conduct public meetings. The agency also said its short-staffed. Environmentalists are opposed to more delays. Meanwhile, ranchers in New Mexico and Arizona are worried their concerns are being ignored.

  • ATTORNEY'S DEATH-ALBUQUERQUE

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Court of Appeals has overturned a District Court judge's order requiring the state Office of the Medical Investigator to rule that the cause of a prominent Albuquerque attorney's 2010 death was unknown. The Court of Appeals' ruling Monday said the judge abused his discretion by ordering the Office of the Medical Investigator to change its finding that lawyer Mary Han's death was a suicide as police believed. Han was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in a vehicle in her garage, and her estate contended that police violated state constitutional protections for Han as a crime victim when her death was investigated.

  • CAPITOL BREACH-COWBOYS FOR TRUMP

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin has said he will not resign his seat on the Otero County Commission as he awaits trial in connection with the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. The Alamogordo Daily News reported that Griffin made the declaration in response to a press release last week from county commissioners Gerald Matherly and Vickie Marquardt calling for Griffin's resignation. The topic took up more than an hour of the commission's meeting last Thursday after it was placed on the agenda for discussion. Griffin has denied the allegations against him related to the Capitol insurrection.

  • POLICE SHOOTING-TORRANCE COUNTY

BOSQUE FARMS, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say one person was shot during an encounter with at least one Torrance County sheriff's deputy. The New Mexico State Police said the incident occurred Tuesday in Bosque Farms and that no deputies were injured. A State Police statement said a "suspect" was struck by gunfire and taken to a hospital. The statement did not specify the wounded person's condition or provide any information on circumstances related to the shooting. Bosque Farms is 16 miles south of Albuquerque.

  • ALBUQUERQUE SCHOOLS-SUPERINTENDENT

The Albuquerque Public Schools board has named Scott Elder as superintendent of New Mexico's largest school district, a post he has held on an interim basis since last summer. The board's announcement of Elder's appointment Monday noted his work helming the district during the pandemic and also said Elder was "has committed to making APS classrooms culturally and linguistically responsive." Elder took over on an interim basis with the retirement of Raquel Reedy was selected by the board after a lengthy search process initially launched after Reedy announced in October 2019 that she would retire. The process later was suspended and then restarted.

  • BIDEN CABINET-INTERIOR-REACTION

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Citizens of tribes across the U.S. are cheering Deb Haaland's confirmation as the first Native American secretary of a Cabinet agency. The U.S. Senate on Monday voted 51-40 in favor of the Democrat's nomination to lead the Interior Department. Many Native Americans have called Haaland's historic confirmation an answer to their prayers and a long time coming. They say the move positions someone they trust and admire to carry forward their hopes and expectations. The Interior Department has broad oversight of tribal affairs and energy development.