- TAOS-SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
TAOS, N.M. (AP) — Taos Air has announced it will begin direct charter flights from Taos to Los Angeles and San Diego area.The company said this week it will start direct charter flight service to and from Hawthorne Municipal Airport in Los Angeles and McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, California, beginning Jan. 9.
Taos Air says it will provide flights under two and a half hours one way at prices comparable to commercial services. That will make it easy for Southern Californians to experience northern New Mexico's ski resorts.
The new winter California service is expected to run from Jan. 9 through March 29 and consist of one flight to and from each destination every Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.
- MEDICAL MARIJUANA-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is considering whether to extend its medical cannabis program to dogs with epilepsy and people with attention deficit disorder.Petitions for new qualifying medical conditions have been filed with the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board at its upcoming meeting in December. The Department of Health withheld the names of petition sponsors.
One petition cites recent studies in veterinary medicine to suggest authorization of cannabis for animals coping with seizures. Cannabidiol derived from hemp or marijuana already is widely marketed for pets.
Another petition would allow marijuana for attention deficit-hyperactivity, anxiety disorder and Tourette's syndrome.
New Mexico's medical cannabis program has opened its doors to nearly 80,000 patients who cope with conditions from cancer to HIV. A large majority are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or severe chronic pain.
- BORDER ACTIVIST TRIAL-THE LATEST
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A jury in Arizona has acquitted an activist on charges he illegally helped two migrant men from Central America evade authorities.Scott Warren was charged with harboring for his role in providing shelter to the men who had crossed the border illegally in January 2018.
The trial was the second for Warren, who maintained he was fulfilling his mission as a humanitarian when he provided basic medical care to the men.
He allowed them to stay at a camp run by volunteers who rescue migrants in desert.
A jury in June deadlocked on charges against him in the first trial.
Prosecutors contended Warren knowingly broke the law by allowing the men to stay at the camp.
They said Warren gave them directions to help them avoid a Border Patrol checkpoint.
- ELECTION 2020-SENATE NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Elisa Martinez, a Latina Republican and member of the Navajo Nation, is joining the race for an open U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico.Martinez formally announced Wednesday she will seek the GOP nomination to take on likely Democratic nominee U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján.
The anti-abortion activist will face contractor Mick Rich and college professor Gavin Clarkson in the Republican primary.
Martinez says she's an advocate for "traditional, New Mexican issues" and blasted "liberal socialist Democrats" for seeking to reform health care.
Martinez grew up in Gallup, New Mexico. Her father has deep Hispanic roots in the state going back 15 generations and her mother's family is Zuni Pueblo and Navajo.
If elected, Martinez would become the first Native American woman elected in the U.S. Senate.
- VIOLENT CRIME-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque's mayor and police department are pleading for investigative leads in the shooting death of the mother of two State Police officers as the city's annual homicide tally approaches record levels.Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller on Wednesday said a surge in local homicides is the culmination of a decadelong trend linked to drug abuse, gangs and depleted police ranks.
He says the city is preparing an anti-violence initiative while seeking $30 million in new funding from the Legislature to combat crime.
Albuquerque Police Lieutenant Scott Norris says police are searching for a 2000 Jeep Cherokee in connection with the death of a woman whose husband reported she was shot Tuesday morning. Police provided no further details.
The Albuquerque Journal identified the deceased woman as the mother of State Police officers.
- PRETRIAL DETENTION-NEW MEXICO
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Republicans have unveiled a proposal aimed at changing how state judges decide who remains jailed before trial.State Rep. Bill Rehm said Wednesday he will push a bill that would force judges to consider the seriousness of the suspect's charge and criminal history when considering release.
The Albuquerque Republican says he will work with Democrats to come with a bipartisan proposal to safeguard against violent defendants being released from jail before trial.
The move comes after a state judge ordered a defendant charged in the 2016 brutal killing and dismemberment of a 10-year-old Albuquerque girl to be released from jail pending his trial.
Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez, the top prosecutor in New Mexico's busiest court district, wants lawmakers to tackle a similar proposal.
- DRUG EPIDEMIC-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The state with the nation's highest alcohol-related death rate and a longstanding opiate problem is looking for answers in three afflicted communities that have deployed extensive resources to address an epidemic of destructive substance use.An expert study released Wednesday by the Legislative Finance Committee traces a doubling of annual state spending on services to people with drug and alcohol problems across New Mexico, with attention to special programs across the state's largest urban area in Albuquerque and two small, impoverished communities in the north and west of the state.
The aggressive deployment of opioid overdose antidotes and closer monitoring of prescriptions has helped stabilized overdose death rates as alcohol-related deaths continue to climb.
At the same time, many emergency rooms and physicians appear ill-equipped to screen and treat addiction.
- PLANE PURCHASE PROPOSAL
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico state senator has announced plans to propose purchasing a plane to help cabinet secretaries and other officials travel throughout the state.The Albuquerque Journal reported Tuesday that Legislative Finance Committee chairman and Democratic Sen. John Arthur Smith is expected to introduce a bipartisan plan that would use funding in next year's state budget to buy an aircraft.
Smith says he is thinking of something more modest than the executive jet sold in 2011 by then-Gov. Susana Martinez.
Officials say Smith did not reveal any potential cost estimates, but a small airplane could cost about $2.5 million used or $4 million new compared to a $10 million jet.
Officials say the plane would encourage officials to visit remote parts of the state and better respond to community needs.