- WISCONSIN KILLINGS-KIDNAPPING
Records: Closs kidnapper fought New Mexico inmatesMADISON, Wis. (AP) — The man who kidnapped Jayme Closs and killed her parents got into a fight in a New Mexico prison with an inmate who asked about the case.
Wisconsin prison officials quietly transferred Jake Patterson to New Mexico in July. Press-Gazette Media reports that New Mexico Corrections Department records show two inmates at an unnamed prison approached Patterson on Aug. 28 and told him to leave the pod because of his case. Patterson punched one of them, triggering a fight.
Patterson was disciplined at Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun in June for threatening to assault another inmate.
Records show the company that transported Patterson to New Mexico had to drive straight through because no other state would assume responsibility for him, even briefly, while the transport team rested.
- FUGITIVE APPREHENSION UNIT
New Mexico governor creates special unit to arrest fugitivesSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The governor of New Mexico has created a special law enforcement unit to arrest hundreds of fugitives across the state.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Tuesday that the Fugitive Apprehension Unit would be responsible for finding people charged with violent crimes who have failed to appear in court.
Authorities say this unit would help reduce the more than 1,600 outstanding bench warrants for people charged with violent crimes.
Authorities say New Mexico has the second-highest violent crime rate in the nation.
Grisham says the unit would be made up of at least seven state police officers and at least seven state corrections department staffers chosen by Public Safety Secretary Mark Shea and State Police Chief Tim Johnson.
Grisham says the unit must make monthly reports to her documenting arrests.
- MISSING BROTHERS-CONVICTED FATHER
New Mexico authorities seek help locating 2 missing brothersLAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico authorities have asked the public for help locating two young brothers they say were taken from daycare by their father and hidden.
Las Cruces Police Department authorities say a nationwide arrest warrant was issued for 52-year-old Clarence Michael Ransom on charges of failure to register as a sex offender and non-compliance with a custodial agreement.
Authorities say 3-year-old Maverick Ransom and 4-year-old Orion Ransom were last seen Oct. 8 when their father picked them up from a Las Cruces daycare center.
Authorities say they have reason to believe the father traveled to Cuidad Juarez, Mexico the same day and returned to the United States the following day.
Authorities say the father does not pose a threat.
Authorities ask anyone with information to call local law enforcement.
- HOBBS-DENVER FLIGHTS
United begins flights from Denver to Hobbs, New MexicoHOBBS, N.M. (AP) — United Airlines has begun direct flights to Denver from a southeastern New Mexico county airport in the heart of New Mexico's booming oil region.
The Hobbs News-Sun reports the inaugural United Express SkyWest Airlines flight to Denver was Sunday, when Hobbs, New Mexico, leaders flew to Denver from the Lea County Regional Airport. The first direct flight from Denver International Airport to Hobbs also was earlier Sunday.
United's nonstop flights to Denver International Airport into the Permian Basin will be operated as United Express service six days per week.
United is also scheduled to continue to operate two daily nonstop flights from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. There will be one flight that runs to and from Houston on Saturdays.
- REPEAT OFFENDER-$20 THEFT
Convicted felon gets 4 years for stealing $20 in burglary(Information from: Gallup Independent, http://www.gallupindependent.com)
GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — A convicted felon who admitted to breaking into a western New Mexico business and stealing less than $20 has been sentenced to four years in prison.
The Gallup Independent reports Chad Gonzales was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to non-residential burglary and confessing that he stole $18.90.
Authorities located Gonzales through DNA samples after he cut himself during the break-in.
The 37-year-old Gonzales entered into the repeat offender plea agreement, admitting that he was convicted of possession of a controlled substance in February 2012 and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in February 2015.
Under the plea agreement, the prosecution dropped charges of larceny and criminal damage to property.
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- UNM-CREDIT RATING
Standard & Poor's downgrades UNM's credit ratingALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The University of New Mexico's long-term credit rating has downgraded amid reductions in state funding and enrollment declines.
Standard & Poor's Financial Service recently reduced the university's long-term rating by one level, from "AA" to "AA-." But S&P also revised the school's rating outlook from negative to stable.
The S&P ratings reflect an institution's ability to repay long-term debt. It's also based on financial data for multiple fiscal years, including the fiscal year ending in 2019.
S&P said in a report the university's rating could improve if enrollment grows and debt and financial resources improve further.
Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Teresa Costantinidis says the University of New Mexico still has the highest rating of any higher education institution in the state.
- ELECTION 2020-SENATE-NEW MEXICO
Secretary of state quits 2020 Democratic bid for US SenateSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's secretary of state says she won't pursue the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, clearing a path for Rep. Ben Ray Luján as the party's candidate in 2020.
Maggie Toulouse Oliver on Tuesday announced in an email the end of her campaign and endorsed Luján's campaign to succeed retiring two-term Sen. Tom Udall.
Luján is the No. 4 Democrat in House leadership and has served six terms representing northern New Mexico. Two candidates who lost statewide election bids in 2018 are vying for the Republican nomination.
Toulouse Oliver cut a progressive profile in her short-lived Senate campaign. The former county clerk called for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump and rejected campaign cash from corporate PACs. Those positions later became part of Luján's platform.
- PUBLIC EDUCATION-NEW MEXICO
New Mexico wants linguistic, cultural training for teachersSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico state education officials want public schools to become more attuned to the culture and linguistics of a heavily Hispanic and Native American population, as they outline priorities for the next school year.
Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart on Tuesday told a panel of state lawmakers that his agency hopes to better equip teachers to inspire children from households where an indigenous or foreign language is spoken.
He says that teaching tribal languages in the classroom can help Navajo children communicate with elders. He says text books have to be created from scratch to teach some indigenous languages that aren't widely spoken.
Lawmakers recently increased spending on teacher salaries, at-risk students and incentives to extend annual classroom hours by up to 20 percent.