- AIRPORT BODIES-MANHUNT
WOODBURY, N.J. (AP) — A search is underway for a man wanted for questioning in a homicide in New Jersey and in the slayings of four people whose bodies were found inside a vehicle parked in a New Mexico airport garage. The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of 47-year-old Sean Lannon. Investigators want to question Lannon about a slaying Monday in East Greenwich, New Jersey. Lannon also is a person of interest in the deaths of his ex-wife and three men whose bodies were found last week in a vehicle at the Albuquerque International Sunport garage. Three of the people were reported missing since January.
- ALCOHOL REFORM-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Legislature is sending a bill to the governor that would overhaul state liquor regulations in an effort to invigorate the hospitality industry. The Senate voted 29-11 Tuesday to approve the bill, and the House quickly agreed to recent amendments. The measure would legalize liquor deliveries when accompanied by food and expand restaurant alcohol licenses that meet local ordinances to include not only beer and wine but also spirits with a 10 p.m. cutoff. Tastings would be allowed at craft distilleries. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham set the legislation as a priority at the start of the legislative session.
- LEGISLATURE BILLS ROUNDUP
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico state Senate is voting on a half-dozen bill each day as the Legislature's annual session comes to a close this month. On Tuesday, the body voted unanimously for a redistricting plan that will draw the map for voters in future elections. Senators were also united in passing a bill to require studies of industry tax breaks meant to generate jobs. The largest break goes to the film industry, averaging $70 million per year. Along party lines, Democratic senators passed a bill allowing more judges to qualify for publically funded election campaigns. The bills now go to the House.
- VIRUS OUTBREAK-NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported 12 additional COVID-19 cases and one more death from the virus as a downward trend in infections and hospitalizations continues. The latest numbers pushed the tribe's totals to 29,887 confirmed cases and 1,204 known deaths since the pandemic began a year ago. Also on Tuesday, the Navajo Department of Health identified eight communities with uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 compared with 75 communities having an uncontrolled spread in January. Health facilities on the reservation and in border towns are conducting drive-thru vaccine events or administering doses by appointment. A daily curfew from 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. and a mask mandate remain in effect for residents of the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
- MARIJUANA-NEW MEXICO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Two competing proposals for legalizing marijuana in New Mexico have emerged from a bargaining session among legislators amid efforts to balance demands of incumbent medical marijuana producers with calls for new economic opportunity. A state Senate panel advanced a Republican-sponsored bill that emphasizes free markets and a Democrat-sponsored bill that emphasizes social justice concerns about prior drug convictions. Legalization advocates are expressing stubbornly divergent views on how to stamp out illicit marijuana and provide economic opportunity for a fledgling industry. Leaders of the Democrat-led Legislature have until March 20 to send a bill to the Democratic governor.
- LIQUOR LICENSE FEES
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed legislation that will allow the state to waive annual liquor license fees as businesses struggle to rebound amid the pandemic. The governor signed the measure Tuesday, saying the food and beverage industry is a key piece of the state's economy. Under the legislation, the next annual fee for renewed liquor licenses and for all new licenses issued in this year will be waived. License fees can stretch as high as several thousand dollars annually. State officials estimate the waivers will save businesses in New Mexico roughly $3.5 million.
- NEW MEXICO-FUEL STANDARD
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico would join California and Oregon with a statewide clean fuel standard under legislation that has the backing of environmentalists and top Democrats in the state. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has been pushing the proposal as a way to meet her carbon reduction goals. Her administration says the transportation sector amounts to the second-largest greenhouse gas-emitter in New Mexico and that targeting fuel could make a difference. Critics say it will lead to higher gas prices in the poverty-stricken state. The state Senate Finance Committee advanced the bill on a party-line vote Tuesday. It still needs approval from the full Senate and the House.
- AP-US-FORMER-SUPERINTENDENT-PORNOGRAPHY
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A longtime educator whose career included high-profile jobs on the Navajo Nation resigned from his latest post as an Arizona county schools superintendent after officials discovered pornographic images on his work-issued computer. Tommy Lewis Jr. resigned as the Coconino County superintendent of schools in late January, citing personal reasons. But records obtained by The Associated Press show he was under investigation for potential criminal activity. The investigation in Arizona ended recently with no charges against him. Law enforcement officials say none of the material discovered involved the exploitation of children. The county's Information Technology Department also found Lewis tried to access explicit or pornographic websites more than 100 times since early December.