Here’s a look at today’s headlines:
A 31 year-old Deming resident was recently sentences in District Court in Las Cruces to 120 months, or ten years, in prison for his conviction on conspiracy, kidnapping, and firearms charges. The defendant and two others were initially arrested by New Mexico State Police on May 10, 2014. The release state evidence at trial established that the defendant had kidnapped, handcuffed and brandished a firearm at the victim to force her to comply with his demands.
The New Mexico Livestock Board has lifted the quarantine at Sunland Park Racetrack, following containment of a contagious horse-specific virus there. Outside racehorses can now enter the racetrack – and the more than 1,600 horses that have been on site since the equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) outbreak began can now leave. A quarantine was first established January 22 after a horse tested positive for the neuropathogenic strain of EHV-1. In total, 68 horses at the racetrack – approximately four percent of all horses there – tested positive. So did another five horses at nearby Frontera Training Center. The majority of these 73 horses made a full recovery.
The New Mexico Trucking Association and the New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services are inviting companies or employers looking to hire military veterans to be a part of the Second Annual Veterans Job Fair presented by the two agencies on April 29 from 10am-2pm in Albuquerque at the Isleta Casino and Resort.
New Mexico In Depth released a new report on how climate change has created a ‘new normal’ in forest management. From the late 19th century through the 1970s, a national policy of fire prevention and suppression aimed to protect commercial timber stands and newly-designated forest reserves. Such practices changed the character of many forests, including the Gila near Kingston. Just in the past five years, the Gila has experienced three huge fires: In 2011 the Wallow Fire, which started in Arizona, consumed more than a half-million acres. The Whitewater-Baldy Fire, the state’s largest wildfire on record, devoured almost 300,000 acres in 2012. Then the Silver Fire burned 138,000 acres. Today, in recognition of the role fire plays in keeping forests healthy, the Forest Service conducts prescribed burns in the Gila.
Department of Game and Fish employees will be working extended hours and Saturdays this month to help hunters apply for big-game hunting licenses.
State officials say four Mexican foreign nationals were caught trying to fraudulently obtain New Mexico driver’s licenses on Tuesday.
The New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) and law enforcement agencies are searching for 32-year-old Joseph Cruz and 29-year-old Lionel Claw. On March 10, 2016, while being transported by New Mexico Corrections Department transport both men escaped. Preliminary investigation reveals that both men may have escaped from the transport van between Roswell, NM and Las Cruces.
