- STATE BUDGET-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's governor is proposing more pay raises for public school and state government workers plus new subsidies to expand early childhood schooling and provide tuition-free college. In budget recommendations delivered Monday to the Legislature, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham seeks a 4% teacher pay boost. State employees would get 3% raises. Other proposed spending increases would expand child care subsidies to 4,200 more children. To pay for the plan, the Democratic governor is proposing an 8 percent general fund spending increase to about $7.7 billion for the fiscal year starting July 1. The Democrat-led Legislature convenes Jan. 21 to craft the budget.
- ELECTION 2020-SENATE NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Louie Sanchez, a health care businessman and a shooting range owner, is jumping in the race for an open U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico. Sanchez announced Monday he will seek the Republican nomination for a spot currently held by retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Udall. Sanchez says he is running because others have refused to "take action" to tighten immigration and drug trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border. He will face anti-abortion activist Elisa Martinez, contractor Mick Rich and college professor Gavin Clarkson in the Republican primary. Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján is running for the seat in the Democratic primary.
- MARIJUANA STRAINING WATER SUPPLIES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — More medical marijuana plants are being grown in New Mexico than ever and the crop could be straining local water supplies. The Albuquerque Journal reports two rural water systems in Sandoval County say the crop may be depleting local water supplies. And they say they have been left powerless to stop it. The Peña Blanca Water and Sanitation District and Sile Mutual Domestic Water and Sewer Association sent a letter last month to state agencies and legislators describing their concerns over their disappearing water resources. The water system representatives say New Mexico's patchwork of medical marijuana regulations has not kept up with the increased strain on rural water supplies.
- OBIT-ROB DEAN
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Rob Dean, a former editor who led the Santa Fe New Mexican for more than two decades, has died. The paper announced that Dean died Sunday unexpectedly at his Santa Fe home. He was 65. The cause of death has not been determined. Born and raised in Harlowton, Montana, Dean served as metro editor at the News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington, and taught journalism at Pacific Lutheran University before coming to Santa Fe. He took over the New Mexican after former owner Robert McKinney won a court decision returning control of the newspaper to him from conglomerate Gannett. Dean retired in 2013. A few years later, he was chosen to lead Searchlight New Mexico, an investigative journalism project co-founded by former New Mexican editor Ray Rivera.
- NAVAJO NATION-MEDICAL EXAMINER
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation says it is working with Congress to fund the tribe's proposed Department of Medical Examiners. The Gallup Independent reports Navajo Law and Order Committee Chairwoman Eugenia Charles-Newton says the panel is seeking full funding amid overworked criminal investigators. Navajo criminal investigators have been handling deaths on the sprawling Navajo Nation that is located in three states. Navajo criminal investigators have been devoting about 40% of their time to serve as coroners. This has also created a problem when it comes to recruiting criminal investigators because they turn down the job discouraged by the extra duty of coroner.
- TROUBLED SANTA FE POLICE
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Santa Fe police's poor handling of its evidence room may have affected several cases. But just how many remains a mystery. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports The department is awaiting the results of an evidence room audit conducted by a consultant. Santa Fe Deputy Chief Ben Valdez says the department will not attempt to determine if more evidence is missing until that audit. The audit comes more than six months after the Santa Fe Police Department told the District Attorney's Office it had lost evidence in a first-degree murder case.
- SHERIFF-EMBEZZLEMENT
ESTANCIA, N.M. (AP) — State prosecutors want a judge to reconsider his decision to drop embezzlement charges filed against a former New Mexico sheriff-turned-judge accused of using taxpayer dollars to buy personal items. KRQE-TV reports the New Mexico Attorney General's Office filed an appeal last week of Judge Charles Brown's decision to toss charges against former Torrance County Sheriff Heath White. Brown said in October there were omissions in the search warrant as well as some misleading information and evidence from the search allegedly was suppressed. The Attorney General's Office says investigators with New Mexico State Police found several sheriff's office-owned items on White's property during a raid in April, including guns, surveillance equipment, and tools.
- RUDE COUNCILOR
EUNICE, N.M. (AP) — A city manager of a southeastern New Mexico town is seeking to remove a councilor over attendance and for "being rude." The Hobbs News-Sun reports City Manager Jordan Yutzy of Eunice, New Mexico recently sent a letter to the state Attorney General's office seeking guidance on how to remove Councilor Terry Bettis from his seat.Yutzy wrote that the 15-year veteran councilor keeps sending critical text messages and social media posts. Bettis dismissed the concerns over his attendance rate and his text messages. He says he's just trying to protect residents and taxpayers.