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Latest New Mexico news, sports, business and entertainment at 5:20 p.m. MDT

 

  • PUBLIC RECORD-PRISON SETTLEMENTS

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico appellate court has determined that settlement agreements reached between a prison health care contractor and its patients are public records.The Albuquerque Journal reports that the state Court of Appeals upheld a judge's decision that prison settlements are public records reaffirming that private entities performing a public function for a public agency are subject to the Inspection of Public Records Act.
Officials say the decision comes more than three years after news outlets, including the Albuquerque Journal, submitted written requests to the state corrections department for settlement records involving Corizon Health.
Outlets say the company settled claims in 2016 for nearly $4.6 million related to a physician suspected of sexually abusing inmates.
The company said IPRA did not require settlement release due to confidentiality agreements.
 

  • NATIONAL PRESERVE-TRIBAL DISPUTE

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected an effort by a Native American tribe to reclaim Valles Caldera National Preserve.U.S. District Judge James Browning issued a sealed opinion denying Jemez Pueblo's claim that its aboriginal property rights were never extinguished. He found that the federal government had clear title to the land.
The ruling came Aug. 31 following a trial held last year in Albuquerque.
Tribal officials and their attorneys could not be reached for comment. It's unclear if they plan to appeal.
Valles Calderas is home to vast grasslands, the remnants of one of North America's few super volcanoes and one of New Mexico's most famous elk herds.
The pueblo considers the nearly 140-square-mile (362.6-square kilometer) swath of federally managed public land as a spiritual sanctuary and part of its traditional homeland.

  • MEDICAL MARIJUANA CARDS

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico health officials have refused to issue medical marijuana identification cards to out-of-state residents despite a recent judge order.The Albuquerque Journal reports that the state Department of Health asked a judge to reconsider a ruling that New Mexico must allow nonresidents to participate in its medical cannabis program.
Health officials say the ruling is not final, because it could be held pending an appeal and that they are waiting until the legal dispute is resolved.
An attorney says the department should be held in contempt of court.
State attorneys say allowing nonresidents to participate would encourage the illegal transport of cannabis across state lines.
Officials say the ruling signed into law this year was a simple drafting error and was not aimed at granting out-of-state residents ID cards.
 

  • OPIOID CRISIS-PURDUE-NEW MEXICO

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico state prosecutors have reversed course to join in a tentative financial settlement over the role that OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma played in the nation's opioid addiction crisis.Attorney general's office spokesman Matt Baca confirmed this week that New Mexico will participate in a settlement involving about half of states under bankruptcy proceedings for Purdue.
Baca said the attorney general's office wants to ensure an accurate accounting of assets held by Purdue and the Sacklers that would go toward services to communities ravaged by opioids.
More than 2,600 opioids-related lawsuits have been filed against Purdue.
Prosecutors initially said New Mexico would decline to join the settlement because it was insufficient. New Mexico sued the Sacklers last week on allegations of deceptive practices that helped flood the state with opioids.

  • TODDLER-CAR DEATH

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico woman has been charged in the death of a toddler who was left in a vehicle.Investigators with the Hobbs Police Department say Tammy Brooks was supposed to drop off the 2-year-old child at daycare Tuesday morning but drove to work instead. The child was left unattended in a car seat for hours until Brooks realized the child was still in the car after running an errand.
Rescue crews responded after receiving a 911 call around 1:30 p.m. The child was declared dead at the scene. An autopsy will be conducted.
The 41-year-old Brooks is charged with abandonment or abuse of a child resulting in death. She's being held in the Hobbs City Jail pending arraignment. It was not immediately known if she had an attorney.

  • GRIZZLY ATTACKS

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Montana officials say a Washington state man remains in stable condition and two New Mexico men have been treated and released after back-to-back grizzly bear attacks in the same area.Fish Wildlife and Parks spokesman Morgan Jacobsen said authorities were still trying to determine if the attacks involved the same bear.
They occurred Monday within a mile of one another in the Gravelly mountains of southwestern Montana.
In the first encounter, two archery hunters from New Mexico were tracking elk when a bear charged and injured both men. It left after being sprayed with bear spray.
That evening, two hunters from Washington were charged by a bear and one of them was mauled. The men fired gunshots at the animal until it left.
Jacobsen says it's unclear if they hit the bear.

  • WEATHER RADAR-FOUR CORNERS

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — A national weather agency has announced plans to lower its radar system elevation to better track weather in the Four Corners region including southwest Colorado.The Durango Herald reports that the National Weather Service has proposed adjusting its Grand Junction radar to track areas that were originally blind spots.
Department officials say major radar hubs in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado track data at an elevation higher than where storms usually occur resulting in weather forecasters missing numerous incoming storms.
Officials say the proposal could take up to two years to implement and requires a software adjustment to the system that would not alleviate blind spots in La Plata County or Durango.
A permanent weather radar system in Durango received funding earlier this year, but there is no project timeline.
 

  • GALLUP-POLICE CHIEF

GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — A judge has tossed out a lawsuit filed by former Gallup Police Chief Phillip Hart against the western New Mexico city.The Gallup Independent reports Eleventh Judicial District Judge Robert Aragon dismissed Friday a complaint by Hart, who claimed the city of Gallup violated his rights and prevented him from carrying out his job duties.
Hart was fired in August 2018 as he and the city of Gallup were embroiled in year-long legal disputes.
Hart disputed the city's policy of allowing community service aides to pick up and commit intoxicated residents to the detoxification center.
Hart's attorney JoHanna Cox says the ex-chief plans to appeal Aragon's decision.