- MUSEUM-HISTORIC SITES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — State officials say visits to New Mexico museums and historic sites have fallen.The Albuquerque Journal reports New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs says overall attendance for the fiscal year that ended June 30 dipped 2% from last year.
According to the agency, in fiscal 2019, 992,574 visitors were counted for the eight state-run museums and the six historic sites.
In fiscal 2018, attendance was at 1,014,041 and was largely led by the blockbuster "Da Vinci — The Genius" exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque.
The biggest drops in attendance came at the Fort Sumner/Bosque Redondo site and the New Mexico History Museum, with a 30% and 17% decrease respectively.
- DRUG TREATMENT CLINIC-CLOSING
Alamogordo drug treatment clinic set to close(Information from: Alamogordo Daily News, http://www.alamogordonews.com)
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — A clinic that provides opioid abuse treatment in the Tularosa Basin is set to close after its doctor announced he's moving to Albuquerque.
The Alamogordo Daily News reports the White Sands Family Practice Clinic in Alamogordo, New Mexico, will shut its doors Aug. 30.
Gilberto Heredia says he is leaving for a change of pace but also due to the "increasing regulatory burden in the health care industry."
Heredia says it's difficult for small clinics to function because of the regulations.
Alamogordo Police Chief Brian Peete says he believes White Sands Family Practice Clinic is the largest provider of opioid use disorder treatment in the Otero County area.
Peete says he hopes another medical organization will step in to fill the gap.
- ELECTION 2020-SENATE-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and New Mexico elections regulator Maggie Toulouse Oliver has released recent tax returns and is calling on rival candidates to do the same.Toulouse Oliver on Wednesday released copies of her 2018 federal and state income tax returns that show she paid nearly $10,000 in taxes on taxable income of roughly $75,000.
Campaign Manager Heather Brewer says the documents demonstrate Toulouse Oliver has nothing to hide as a "hard-working, single mom with a mountain of student loan debt."
Democratic Congressman and Senate candidate Ben Ray Luján says he files an annual financial disclosure package with a complete review of his finances. He and Republican candidate Gavin Clarkson have declined to release their returns.
Sen. Tom Udall will not run for a third term in 2020.
- HOBBS POLICE CHIEF
HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — A 21-year veteran of the Arizona Department of Public Safety is the new police chief in Hobbs.City officials announced Wednesday that they offered the job to John Ortolano and he accepted.
Ortolano was one of three finalists for the job.
Hobbs Police Chief Chris McCall retired in February after 6 1/2 years as the city's 24th police chief in the department's 90-year history.
Ortolano had been a captain with the DPS and served in the Criminal Investigations Division and Gang Enforcement Bureau.
The multi-agency State Gang Task Force serves the Phoenix metropolitan area and deters criminal gang activity.
Ortolano is a Navy veteran, served in the U.S. Army National Guard as a combat medical specialist and earned a master's degree in criminal justice from American Military University.
- ELECTION 2020-LEGISLATURE-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's top-ranked state senator has announced she'll run for re-election against two Democratic primary challengers.Senate President Mary Kay Papen on Wednesday announced her bid for a fifth term representing a district that stretches from the city of Las Cruces across farming communities of the Mesquite Valley to the U.S. border with Mexico.
The 87-year-old lawmaker is highlighting her legislative achievements in shoring up services for mental health patients. She is competing for the nomination with green business advocate Carrie Hamblen and Tracy Perry, a service provider for the developmentally disabled.
The primary showdown highlights a divide between fiscally conservative Democrats such as Papen and more progressive currents within the party. Papen voted this year against a bill to repeal the state's dormant ban on most abortion procedures.
- ELECTION 2020-HOUSE-NEW MEXICO
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Xochitl (ZOH'-cheel) Torres Small continues to outraise her Republican opponents in her re-election bid for a key Congressional seat in southern New Mexico.Federal election records show the Las Cruces Democrat pulled in $1,091,386 during her first six months in office after winning the seat in November. Records show she had around $1 million cash on hand.
Republican Yvette Herrell, who lost to Torres Small last year and is seeking a rematch, raised $312,000 during the same period and reported having $307,000 cash on hand.
But to win the GOP nomination Herrell will have to defeat Las Cruces businessman Chris Mathys who is also running. Records show Mathys reported raising $180,000 and had around $160,000 cash on hand.
No other candidates have declared for the seat.
- HORSE QUARANTINE
DENVER (AP) — Hundreds of Colorado properties are under quarantine after a rabies-like virus outbreak has been confirmed in horses.KMGH-TV reported Tuesday that the Colorado Veterinarians Office has confirmed Vesicular Stomatitis Virus on 213 properties in Colorado after first appearing in Texas and spreading through New Mexico.
Health officials say a New Jersey strain of the virus was last in Colorado's livestock in 2014, but this current virus is a subtype from Indiana that the state's horses have no immunity against.
Officials say this highly contagious virus is transmitted through various flies and could affect county and state fairs and workers on ranches and farms.
Officials say 400 cases have been investigated this year and only one case has been confirmed in cattle, while the remaining cases are in horses.
- HOMELESS MAN-KILLING
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Two men have been indicted for the 2017 killing of an Albuquerque homeless man who police say was set on fire.The Albuquerque Journal reports a grand jury on Friday indicted 48-year-old Randy Hilliard and 47-year-old Billy Harper on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated arson in connection with the death of Leo Molzhon.
Witnesses told officers two men doused the 50-year-old Molzhon in gasoline and set him on fire in June 2017. Police found Molzhon and a mattress he had been lying on engulfed in flames underneath Interstate 40 in Albuquerque.
Some of Molzhon's friends previously told the Journal he was originally from Minnesota and had been living on the streets for more than a year.
It has not known if Hilliard or Harper had attorneys.