- HOMICIDES-QUIET POLICE
LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — Police in a northern New Mexico city are investigating four homicides but giving few details.The Las Vegas Optic reports the Las Vegas Police Department has denied three open records requests made by the Optic under New Mexico's Inspection of Public Records Act and are refusing to provide any information about the cases.
To date, charges have been filed in just one case.
The city of Las Vegas has denied the newspaper's request, refusing to release any documents in any of the three cases. Officials say doing so could compromise the police investigation.
Melanie Majors, the executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, says any original records of entry from law enforcement agencies are public record.
- CITY COMMISSIONER-ASSAULT
HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — Police say a Hobbs city commissioner made threats against one of his commercial property tenants before choking him.The Hobbs New-Sun reports Ninth Judicial District Attorney Andrea Reeb is prosecuting the case against Dwayne Penick in connection with a Feb. 8 altercation at Curls & Swirls Rolled Ice Cream.
Surveillance video from inside a store and obtained by the News-Sun appears to show Penick approaching a man in a car, with punches thrown by both men when the man got out of the car.
Penick was charged with assault, battery and disorderly conduct.
Fellow City Commissioner Christopher Mills, a defense attorney, is representing Penick. He says the tenants just want to get out of their lease.
- TRUMP-NEW MEXICO VISIT-THE LATEST
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — President Donald Trump says he can win New Mexico and boasted that an oil and gas boom has helped to grow the state's revenues.During a rally Monday night in New Mexico, the president asked supporters to give him more time in office. The crowd of thousands responded by chanting: "Four more years."
Dianna Arvizu, an El Paso, Texas-native who now lives in Albuquerque, was among those in the crowd. She said Trump has a strong chance at capturing New Mexico.
She called his visit "big," saying "He's coming for us in New Mexico because he cares."
Trump told the crowd that the number of new business licenses in New Mexico is outpacing other states.
In a nod to New Mexico's large Hispanic population, he mentioned the start of Hispanic Heritage Month and said the median income for Hispanics has finally surpassed $50,000 a year.
- ELECTION 2020-TRUMP-THE LATEST
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — President Donald Trump made a pocketbook appeal to New Mexico voters, assuring them at a rally Monday night near Albuquerque that his energy policies have made the state wealthier.Trump warned that that those gains could disappear if the proposal known as the Green New Deal takes effect. He accused Democrats of wanting to annihilate New Mexico's economy.
New Mexico hasn't backed a Republican for president since 2004. Trump rallied supporters in suburban Rio Rancho as part of an effort to turn the state and expand his grip on the Electoral College in next year's election.
Trump usually ventures to Republican-friendly states. The New Mexico rally demonstrates a reelection campaign with resources to try turning a few Democratic-leaning states its way.
- TRUMP FUNDRAISING
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — President Donald Trump is making a rare visit to the Democratic stronghold of California, where a series of high-dollar fundraisers will likely be met with protests.Trump routinely mocks the state's liberal culture, policies and politics. Yet his visit signals there are still plenty of wealthy California Republicans who support him.
The events will be spread across two days and are expected to bring in $15 million. That's according to a Republican official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
The progressive Backbone Campaign says on Facebook that it plans to fly a large "Baby Trump" balloon in the Bay Area when Trump is in town.
In the suburbs of Albuquerque, New Mexico, supporters cheered the president as he vowed to flip the Democratic-leaning state in 2020.
- OPIOID CRISIS-PURDUE-BANKRUPTCY-THE LATEST
A judge will need to decide whether lawsuits against members of the Sackler family that owns Purdue Pharma can go ahead with the company seeking bankruptcy protection.But at a hearing Tuesday in White Plains, New York, Judge Robert Drain is scheduled to consider routine matters such as whether the company can keep paying its taxes and utilities.
Several states are preparing to fight the company's bankruptcy plan, which includes a settlement deal that could be worth up to $12 billion.
States that oppose it say that members of the Sackler family need to be made to pay more than the $3 billion to $4.5 billion called for in the settlement.
The bankruptcy filing will at least pause more than 2,000 suits aiming to hold the company accountable for its role in the opioid crisis.
- IMMIGRATION-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will recognize the city of Deming and Luna County for efforts to help asylum seekers over the past several months.Lujan Grisham is scheduled to present the 2019 Governor's Humanitarian Award during a ceremony Monday in Santa Fe.
The first-year Democratic governor has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump's immigration and border security policies. She sued the federal government earlier this year to recoup spending by local governments to shelter and feed migrants.
Thousands of asylum seekers were released in New Mexico after shelters in Texas filled up.
Deming established a temporary shelter and created an intake system to register migrants. The City Council also allocated $1 million to pay for the efforts and hopes to be reimbursed with federal money.
- JEFFREY EPSTEIN-SANTA FE INSTITUTE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico scientific research center that received $275,000 in funding over the years from financier Jeffrey Epstein is hoping to donate some of the money.The Albuquerque Journal reported Sunday that Santa Fe Institute officials want to donate $25,000, the equivalent of a contribution Epstein made in 2010.
The institute accepted it at the time despite Epstein pleading guilty two years earlier to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Spokeswoman Jenna Marshall said last week those funds are spent so the center wants to give the same amount to an appropriate recipient.
The Santa Fe Institute confirmed in July that various foundations tied to Epstein have contributed $250,000 in total.
Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell last month while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.