- NEW MEXICO RACINO LICENSE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico horse racing regulators have declined to grant a sixth state horse track and casino license after months of uncertainty.The New Mexico Racing Commission announced Thursday it would not approve another license following months of debates and millions spent by applicants.
Commission chair Beverly Bourguet says the decision was in "the best interest" of the state but the panel may reopen an application process in the future for another license.
The decision follows appointments to the commission by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. A commission previously appointed by former Republican Gov. Susana Martinez called for applicants.
Under the state's compacts with casino-operating tribes, only six racinos are allowed in New Mexico. The five existing racinos are in Hobbs, Ruidoso, Farmington, Albuquerque, and Sunland Park.
- SOUTHWEST'S SEGREGATED PAST
PHOENIX (AP) — The tension between Phoenix's police and minority communities that erupted this summer over a videotaped clash with an African American family is a harsh reminder of how blacks and Hispanics were once forced into segregated schools and neighborhoods where they built their own churches and social clubs, even American Legion posts.Segregation once ruled the U.S. Southwest as well as the Deep South, with some Civil War battles being fought in Arizona, including the Battle of Picacho Pass, between Phoenix and Tucson, and the Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico that killed some 350 people on both sides.
Neighborhood real estate covenants once barred blacks and Hispanics from buying or leasing homes north of downtown Phoenix and schools were segregated in Arizona and New Mexico near the Texas border.
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Associated Press writer Russell Contreras contributed from Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
- MEDICAL MARIJUANA-SCHOOLS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico education officials have proposed requiring school districts to designate someone to administer and store students' medical cannabis — a rule some districts have protested.The Albuquerque Journal reported Wednesday that Albuquerque and Rio Rancho public schools have submitted comments against the state Public Education Department rule set to go into effect next month.
State law and the rule prevent students from self-administering medical cannabis at school.
Matias Trujillo says his 14-year-old son who is entering Rio Rancho High School takes medical cannabis oil three times daily to treat a severe form of epilepsy.
He says he needs a school employee to give his son the midday dose or else his son could suffer seizures in school.
The department says the rule isn't finalized and it's reviewing the feedback.
- KILLER BEES-ATTACK
DEXTER, N.M. (AP) — A park in southeastern New Mexico town has been closed after a swarm of killer bees attacked two people.Dexter Fire and Rescue Chief Justin Powell told the Roswell Daily Record two internet service provider workers were stung over 100 times Tuesday in Dexter, New Mexico.
Powell says the workers were repairing equipment on top of an unused water tower at the park when they were attacked.
He says the bees chased the workers who climbed from the tower and run away screaming.
Powell says two police officers, three firefighters and emergency medical personnel who responded also were stung.
Firefighters later doused foam onto a bee's nest in the park.
Officials say the town will let the bees calm down and seek a bee expert to remove them.
- BASKETBALL OR NOTHING
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A new Netflix docuseries "Basketball or Nothing" examines the hoop dreams of a rural, Arizona town in the heart of the Navajo Nation.The series follows the Chinle High School boys' basketball team. The players seek to capture the community's first state basketball title amid normal teen pressures and the realities that surround them in the nation's largest Native American reservation.
PGA golfer Rickie Fowler whose grandmother is Navajo served as an executive producer for the series. Fowler told The Associated Press that he wanted to show audiences the obstacles high school students face on the reservation.
Co-director and executive producer Matt Howley says filmmakers sought to allow players, fans and coach Raul Mendoza to speak for themselves without a narrator.
The six-episode series debuts Friday on Netflix.
- MUSEUM-HISTORIC SITES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — State officials say visits to New Mexico museums and historic sites have fallen.The Albuquerque Journal reports New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs says overall attendance for the fiscal year that ended June 30 dipped 2% from last year.
According to the agency, in fiscal 2019, 992,574 visitors were counted for the eight state-run museums and the six historic sites.
In fiscal 2018, attendance was at 1,014,041 and was largely led by the blockbuster "Da Vinci — The Genius" exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque.
The biggest drops in attendance came at the Fort Sumner/Bosque Redondo site and the New Mexico History Museum, with a 30% and 17% decrease respectively.
- DRUG TREATMENT CLINIC-CLOSING
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — A clinic that provides opioid abuse treatment in the Tularosa Basin is set to close after its doctor announced he's moving to Albuquerque.The Alamogordo Daily News reports the White Sands Family Practice Clinic in Alamogordo, New Mexico, will shut its doors Aug. 30.
Gilberto Heredia says he is leaving for a change of pace but also due to the "increasing regulatory burden in the health care industry."
Heredia says it's difficult for small clinics to function because of the regulations.
Alamogordo Police Chief Brian Peete says he believes White Sands Family Practice Clinic is the largest provider of opioid use disorder treatment in the Otero County area.
Peete says he hopes another medical organization will step in to fill the gap.
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ELECTION 2020-SENATE-NEW MEXICO
Senate candidate in New Mexico releases tax returns
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and New Mexico elections regulator Maggie Toulouse Oliver has released recent tax returns and is calling on rival candidates to do the same.
Toulouse Oliver on Wednesday released copies of her 2018 federal and state income tax returns that show she paid nearly $10,000 in taxes on taxable income of roughly $75,000.
Campaign Manager Heather Brewer says the documents demonstrate Toulouse Oliver has nothing to hide as a "hard-working, single mom with a mountain of student loan debt."
Democratic Congressman and Senate candidate Ben Ray Luján says he files an annual financial disclosure package with a complete review of his finances. He and Republican candidate Gavin Clarkson have declined to release their returns.
Sen. Tom Udall will not run for a third term in 2020.