- POLICE SHOOTING-ALBUQUERQUE
ALBUIQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A man accused of beating his neighbor with a hammer and threatening to kill him just weeks ago is dead after being shot by Albuquerque police. Authorities say the shooting occurred at a home Monday after officers attempted to make a welfare check on 52-year-old Valente Acosta-Busttillos. Police were contacted by his concerned employer, who had not heard from him in several days. Officers discovered Acosta-Busttillos had a warrant for a violent felony related to the incident with his neighbor and attempted to arrest him. Authorities say officers tried less-lethal force but that's didn't work. At least one officer fired his weapon, striking the Acost-Busttillos.
- MILLIE BOBBY BROWN-DONATION
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — "Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown is channeling her power for good for a New Mexico food bank. The actress posted on her Instagram on Sunday that she and her family have given an undisclosed amount to The Food Depot in Santa Fe to fund 20,000 meals. Brown, who plays telekinetic teen Eleven, said in her post "Stranger Things" was set to film in Santa Fe before the coronavirus pandemic shut down production. The Food Depot confirmed the actress' donation Monday. Officials say her contribution will mean several families struggling because of COVID-19 will have groceries.
- ETHICS COMMISSION-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's newly founded State Ethic Commission plans to meet by online video conference later this week to review the first four complaints it has received. The complaints will be reviewed by the seven-member panel Friday in an executive session without public access to deliberations. The commission treats complaints as confidential until there is a probable-cause finding, including determinations about jurisdiction or dismissals. That doesn't prevent people from going public with accusations or rebuttals. Voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of the commission in 2018 in the wake of a series of high profile corruption scandals. It began fielding complaints this year.
- WILDFIRES-SATELLITE TRACKING
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — This season New Mexico has a new tool that could help crews get an early jump on any wildfires that might break out. The State Forestry Division will be getting real-time alerts via a satellite tracking system designed by the Santa Fe-based startup Descartes Labs. The program can detect temperature increases from new fires using data that's updated every few minutes. Text messages will then be sent to State Forestry with the location and a detailed map. While the agency is faced with unusual circumstances this fire season, officials say they're still prepared with hundreds of firefighters at the ready across New Mexico.
- COUNTY OFFICIAL-ASIANS
DEMING, N.M. (AP) — A southern New Mexico county official is under fire for posting a social media video casting blame for the novel coronavirus pandemic on "Asians." The Las Cruces Sun-News reports Luna County Safety and Risk Coordinator Tyler Massey posted an expletive-laden video on Snapchat earlier this month, where he complained about people of Asian descent buying "in bulk" at a Walmart. He says their "cousins" started the pandemic and then alleged the Asian customers in the parking lot left him "exposed" to COVID-19. Luna County Attorney Charles Kretek verified that Massey remained a county employee and said county manager Chris Brice "addressed the matter internally."
- NAVAJO POET-WHITING AWARD
GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — Navajo poet Jake Skeets has been named one of the winners of this year's Whiting Award. The Gallup Independent reports the Giles Whiting Foundation recently announced Skeets as one of the 10 writers to receive the honor. Last year, he was named the winner of the 2018 Discovery/Boston Review Poetry Contest and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, one of the most honored literary prizes in America. Skeets says he writes from personal experiences and focuses on Native American issues and challenges. Skeets holds a master of fine arts in poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts and teaches English at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Local elections officials petitioned the New Mexico Supreme Court for permission to conduct the June 2 primary elections by mail because of the coronavirus. County clerks said in the petition Monday that the pandemic makes it impossible to conduct traditional election-day balloting and that existing procedures for mail-in balloting should be adopted for all voting with limited in-person assistance. They also say it is impractical for the Legislature to quickly meet and establish emergency voting procedures. The Supreme Court had no immediate response. The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the state increased to 281 cases on Monday.
- NAVAJO-MEDICAID PLAN
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Plans for a Navajo Nation entity to manage Medicaid on parts of the reservation are up in the air over disagreements among tribal leaders. A tribal corporation has been touting a plan that would incorporate traditional healing, food boxes and customer service in the Navajo language. But it hit another snag last week when tribal President Jonathan Nez vetoed a resolution that he says unconscionably tried to capitalize on the spread of the coronavirus. Nez says the resolution wasn't an emergency as written and the corporation wasn't set up to manage health care. Tribal lawmakers had approved the corporation's efforts to administer Medicaid on the New Mexico portion of the reservation.