- PUEBLO LIBRARIES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — More than a dozen New Mexico pueblos are being awarded grants to expand and create library services.Members of New Mexico's congressional delegation say the pueblos will receive funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The money can be used to organize and preserve the historical records of Native American communities.
U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan says the investment will bolster opportunities for exchanging knowledge, especially for students.
Isleta Pueblo will receive nearly $150,000 to organize and translate historical records to ensure they can be used as a resource for future generations.
The pueblo of Pojoaque will get more than $123,000 to preserve archival resources and to promote the Poeh Cultural Center Archives and Library. The funding will be used to hire additional employees and to buy equipment.
- SAMSUNG-SANTA FE STARTUP
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico startup developing LEDs displays for wearables and personal mobile devices has received a venture capital investment from Korea-based Samsung Venture Investment Corp.The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the Santa Fe startup iBeam Materials recently received an unspecified amount in venture capital investment from Samsung Ventures.
iBeam Materials, an early-stage spinoff company from Los Alamos National Laboratory, is creating technology for display manufacturers. Previously, iBeam has received $4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy and worked with Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories.
Samsung Ventures promotes promising small and medium-sized companies engaging in the development of new technologies. A Samsung Ventures representative sits on the iBeam board of directors.
- FOUR AUTO THEFTS
GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say a New Mexico man with three pending auto theft cases was recently arrested — again — for driving a stolen vehicle.The Gallup Independent reports Justin Villa was arrested Sunday after a witness reported seeing the 37-year-old driving a stolen Chevrolet pickup.
According to a criminal complaint, Villa was spotting in the stolen truck around Gallup, New Mexico, before being confronted by a police officer.
Court documents show Villa has two stolen vehicle cases pending in McKinley County and one pending in Cibola County.
Prosecutor R. David Pederson says Villa had been released on his own recognizance in one case.
It was not known if Villa had a new attorney in his latest case.
- BORDER WALL-LAND TRANSFER
PHOENIX (AP) — The Department of Interior says it is transferring 560 acres (226 hectares) of federal land to the U.S. Army to speed up construction on 70 miles (113 kilometers) of border wall in West Texas, California and Arizona.This marks the first time the government has transferred land on an emergency basis to build border barriers.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Casey Hammond said Wednesday that "extraordinary measures must be taken to preserve values that would otherwise be lost" at the southern border.
The announcement comes as President Donald Trump visited a newly completed section of the border wall in California. Trump's signature campaign promise was to build a wall between Mexico and the U.S.
He promised Mexico would pay for it, but he is instead using billions in Defense Department money.
- 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.