- NAVAJO COAL PLANT
LECHEE, Ariz. (AP) — One of three generating units at a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation has closed.The 2,250-megawatt Navajo Generating Station near Page is scheduled to completely shut down before the end of the year. It's run by the Phoenix-based utility, the Salt River Project.
Utility spokesman Jeff Lane says Unit 3 went offline last week. The other two units will operate full-time until the plant runs out of coal on site.
The power plant recently received its last delivery of coal via electric train from its sole supplier, the Kayenta Mine.
The plant has been operating since the mid-1970s on land leased from the Navajo Nation.
Its owners decided to close it this year because of cheaper prices for power made from natural gas.
- TRUMP-ENDANGERED SPECIES
SEATTLE (AP) — Seventeen states are suing to block Trump administration rules weakening the Endangered Species Act.The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, follows a similar challenge filed last month by several environmental groups, including the Humane Society and the Sierra Club.
The new rules begin taking effect Thursday. They for the first time allow officials to consider how much it would cost to save a species. They also remove blanket protections for animals newly listed as threatened and make it easier for creatures to be removed from the protected list.
The administration and congressional Republicans have said the changes improve the law. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said they ease "the regulatory burden on the American public" without sacrificing conservation goals.
Democratic Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson called it "death by a thousand cuts" for the law.
- WASP ATTACK-DEATH
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico authorities say a man who was trying to pull out an old tree on his property has died after a swarm of wasps attacked and stung him.The Chaves County sheriff's office says 62-year-old Galdino Guzman suffered numerous stings and heavy swelling and died Monday after spending the night in intensive care at a hospital.
Authorities say the paper wasps most common around the southeastern New Mexico city of Roswell are usually passive unless they experience noise, vibration or disruption.
They say that the disturbance involving the tree probably prompted the wasps to attack Guzman.
- ALCOHOL DEATHS-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — State health officials say alcohol-related deaths are up in New Mexico.The Department of Health said 1,544 New Mexicans died from alcohol-related causes in 2018, up 6% from 1,461 in 2017.
The department says New Mexico has had the highest alcohol-related death rate of any U.S. state in recent decades.
Alcohol-related causes include alcohol poisoning as well as chronic liver diseases and some deaths from causes such as fall injuries and suicide.
Health Cabinet Secretary Kathy Kunkel says the number of alcohol-related deaths and the increase in those deaths represent a tragedy.
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- STUN GUN-STUDENT
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico prosecutors say a former sheriff's deputy faces child abuse, false imprisonment and other charges four months after he deployed a stun gun on a special needs student in Espanola.Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Wednesday that a criminal information had been filed against Jeremy Barnes, of Rio Arriba County.
Barnes is also charged with aggravated battery and violation of the Governmental Conduct Act.
Lapel video of Barnes' encounter with the Espanola Valley High School student in May shows he used the stun gun after the boy refused to follow orders and called the deputy a slur.
Adan Trujillo, attorney for Rio Arriba County, declined comment.
- WATER SUPPLY RULE
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Trump administration has delayed an Obama-era proposal that could allow the federal government to charge for water drawn from reservoirs it manages.Army Assistant Secretary for Civil Works R.D. James says in a memo Monday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will delay the Water Supply Rule "for a minimum of six months to better integrate input from stakeholders."
Attorneys general from a dozen western states sent a letter last month to the Trump administration asking that the proposal be withdrawn.
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem headed the effort backed by attorneys general from Idaho, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Stenehjem says the rule usurps states' authority over their own water.
- JAGUAR RECOVERY
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It will be up to a federal appeals court to decide whether tens of thousands of acres in New Mexico should be reserved as critical habitat for the endangered jaguar.The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday from environmentalists and from lawyers representing a group of ranchers and farmers.
The challenged areas were part of nearly 1,200 square miles (3,108 sq. kilometers) designated in 2014 as essential for the conservation of the jaguar. The critical habitat spans parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
Jaguars are found in 19 countries, but only seven male jaguars have been seen in the American Southwest since 1996. The animals have been protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 1997.
- POLICE SHOOTING-DONA ANA COUNTY
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Dona Ana County authorities say a shooting involving a sheriff's deputy is under investigation.The Sheriff's Office said a man was transported to a hospital with unknown injuries following the Tuesday night incident that occurred as deputies responded to a report of shots fired in a residential area on the outskirts of Las Cruces.
It's not clear whether the injured man was shot and what his condition is.
The Sheriff's Office's statement said a deputy reported seeing a man with a gun approaching deputies and that one deputy fired at the man.
The statement said officials were investigating why the deputy fired and said the deputy was placed on administrative leave during an investigation is conducted.