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Latest New Mexico news, sports, business and entertainment at 9:20 p.m. MDT

  • TAOS-HOMICIDE ARREST

State Police: Taos homicide victim, suspect had disputesTAOS, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say a Taos man gunned down when he went to feed his livestock and the man arrested in the early morning killing previously had disputes.
The New Mexico State Police said Gregg Steele was arrested Friday on suspicion of second-degree murder, armed robbery and tampering with evidence in the Aug. 27 killing of 63-year-old Patrick Larkin .
The State Police said Steele identified as a person of interest and then arrested after investigators found evidence of Larkin's blood in Steele's vehicle and determined that the men "previous disputes with each other."
According to the State Police, Steele used a handgun to shoot Larkin but then stole one belonging to Larkin before discarding both weapons.
Court records don't list an attorney for Steele who could comment on the allegations.

  • FATAL CAR CRASH-RESTAURANT

Car crashes into New Mexico restaurant; 1 killed, 2 injuredRUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico authorities say a car driven by a woman attempting to leave a restaurant's parking lot crashed into the building, killing one patron inside and injuring two others.
According to the State Police, "for reasons still under investigation," the car accelerated and drove forward into the restaurant in Ruidoso (REE-uh-DOH-soh) Friday night.
The State Police said Saturday that 58-year-old Tammy Lynn Ford of Clovis was killed while a 58-year-old man and a 75-year-old woman were injured.
The State Police said alcohol wasn't a factor in causing the crash.
It said the car's driver was a 70-year-old Ruidoso woman who wasn't injured and that her name wasn't being released because she hadn't been charged.
Ruidoso is 118 miles (190 kilometers) northeast of El Paso, Texas.

  • URANIUM CONTAMINATION-VIRTUAL REALITY

Virtual reality used to highlight uranium contaminationGALLUP, N.M. (AP) — Activists are using virtual reality technology to focus on areas of the Navajo Nation affected by uranium contamination.
The Gallup Independent reports the arts collective Bombshelltoe has collected 360-degree footage of Churchrock, New Mexico, to show how people and the land have changed since a 1979 uranium mill spill.
The project started four years ago after Washington, D.C.-based nuclear policy program manager Lovely Umayam met Navajo activist Sunny Dooley at an event in Santa Fe.
Umayam says the group wanted to use the new technology of virtual reality with the stories to show the impact of uranium mining.
In 1979, a dam on the Navajo Nation near Church Rock broke at an evaporation pond, releasing 94 million gallons (356 million liters) of radioactive waste to the Puerco River.

  • ELECTION 2020-HOUSE-NEW MEXICO

GOP House candidate under fire for old anti-Trump postsALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Republican House candidate running for a key seat in southern New Mexico is facing criticism for old social media posts attacking Donald Trump.
Claire Chase wrote several Facebook posts in 2015 and 2016 denouncing Trump as he sought the GOP nomination for president before publicly supporting him in the general election.
Her two Republican opponents, Yvette Herrell and Chris Mathys, say the old posts show she still has disdain for the president.
The social media posts were first reported by the conservative online news organization, Breitbart News .
Chase campaign spokesman Craig Murphy says Chase wrote the posts before Trump won the GOP nomination and was open about her support for another candidate.
Murphy says Chase voted for Trump in the general election and has been very pleased with his actions as president.

  • ALBUQUERQUE-SHOOTINGS

6 people die in shootings in AlbuquerqueALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Albuquerque police say six people were killed in separate shootings in the city.
There have been no arrests in Thursday night's shootings, which also left five people wounded.
Officers responded shortly after 9 p.m. to a call of shots fired at 1028 Lura Place. Three people were found dead, a fourth died at the hospital and two others suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
At 8:44 p.m., officers received a report of gunfire at the Rio Volcan Apartments at 1919 Ladera. Two people later died at the hospital and two others were injured.
Earlier, at 7:30 p.m., officers went to the Casa Bonita Apartments and found a man who was shot in the neck after confronting a couple who'd broken into a neighbor's apartment and stolen a purse by force.

  • CLERGY ABUSE-NEW MEXICO-THE LATEST

The Latest: Fugitive priest sentenced in US sex abuse caseALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A former Roman Catholic priest who authorities say fled the country in the early 1990s as he faced sex abuse allegations in New Mexico has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after being returned to the U.S.
A judge sentenced 81-year-old Arthur Perrault on Friday in Santa Fe, saying it was the worst case of child sex abuse she had handled over the course of 26 years.
Prosecutors had requested a maximum of more than 30 years in prison for Perrault after several men testified that they had been abused by him as children.
The abuse counts in an indictment filed against Perrault stem from the treatment of one boy at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque and at Santa Fe National Cemetery.
Perrault, a former pastor at an Albuquerque parish and a chaplain at the base, pleaded not guilty after he was returned to the U.S. from Morocco in 2017.
His defense team plans an appeal.

  • NATIONAL GUARD-POLAND

New Mexico National Guard soldiers deploy to PolandRIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — Members of a New Mexico Army National Guard medical unit are deploying to Poland.
Officials said a yellow ribbon ceremony was planned Saturday in Rio Rancho for about 65 soldiers with the 1209th Medical Support Company.
They will be in Poland for about nine months and will be providing medical support to U.S. military units stationed in the area as part Operation Atlantic Resolve.
The operation stems from the standoff between Ukraine and Russia that began in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and threw its weight behind separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Since then, the U.S. Army, led by Army Europe, has conducted enhanced multinational training and security cooperation activities with allies and partners in eastern Europe because of increased regional tensions.

  • LESSER PRAIRIE CHICKEN

Agreement means feds to decide on prairie bird designationDALLAS (AP) — A federal judge has approved an agreement that will require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make a recommendation by May 2021 whether the lesser prairie chicken should be federally protected as a threatened or endangered species.
The agreement was reached Thursday between the federal agency and three conservations groups: the Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians.
The groups sued the federal government in June to force it to make a designation for the lesser prairie chicken and its habitats.
Once a designation is proposed, there will then be a public comment period followed by a final determination made later by Fish and Wildlife. The agency also could decide that no federal protections be provided for the bird.
It was listed as threatened in 2014 but a federal court overturned the designation.
The grouse roams parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, but the groups said fewer than 38,000 remain .