A highly decorated Albuquerque police officer and former Army Ranger who was fatally shot in the line of duty has been laid to rest. The funeral for Officer Daniel Webster — described by colleagues as one of the city's "finest officers" — was held at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Webster, who was 47, died last week at University of New Mexico hospital from injuries sustained from a shooting a little more than a week earlier. Police say he had stopped Davon Lymon outside a pharmacy for riding a motorcycle with a stolen license plate when Lymon opened fire.
The troubled Mora Schools superintendent—who’s been under fire for faking his credentials— has resigned. The Las Vegas Optic reports that Mora Independent School District superintendent Charles Trujillo recently submitted his resignation and it was approved by the school board. Trujillo's resignation follows an investigation by the Optic that Trujillo faked his credentials to obtain his administrative license. Two days after the Optic story was published, Trujillo surrendered his education licenses to the state Public Education Department. The Mora board had voted on last month to place Trujillo on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the PED investigation. State Education Secretary Hanna Skandera later informed the district it was breaking the law by continuing to pay him.
Espanola Police say an eight-year-old boy wounded in a shooting during a fight between several people Monday is in stable condition at Espanola Hospital. The New Mexican reports that 27-year old Aaron Archuleta got out of his vehicle and fired several shots at an apartment complex and one shot hit the child in the shoulder. The incident started as a fight between two women at the complex. Archuleta and three women in his car told police that someone had fired at them first, but investigators did not find any evidence to back up their story. Archuleta is facing several charges, including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, shooting at an occupied dwelling and child abuse. The three women in Archuleta's car were also booked into the Santa Fe County jail on suspicion of tampering with evidence.
Federal officials have acknowledged that a nonprofit institute in Albuquerque that uses animals for research is the subject of an investigation. Confirmation of the investigation stemmed from a public records request filed earlier this year by the animal-right group Stop Animal Exploitation Now, a frequent critic of the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regularly inspects the lab, stated in a recent letter that the records could not be released due to an open investigation. The agency on Monday did not immediately respond to questions about what spurred the investigation.
Lea County and two cities in New Mexico's oil country want to attract more housing developers to help with the area's expected housing shortage. The Hobbs News-Sun reports that Hobbs, Lovington and country officials are wrestling with different ideas on incentives for housing developers. The incentive program for Hobbs, for example, reimburses developers for building market rate, multi-family and single-family housing projects. University of New Mexico researchers project major growth in the Lea County population with a need for up to two-thousand more housing units at a rate of 300-400 more homes in Lea County would be needed each year through 2020.
The New Mexico Department of Health says Health-care providers across the state are getting better at preventing the spread of infections within health care facilities. The DOH saystThese are infections picked up by patients at health care facilities while they are being treated for other issues. The department reports that in some areas the numbers surpassed federal expectations. Adult and pediatric intensive care units saw a 39 percent drop in infections than had been predicted.
Forecasters say New Mexico's winter likely will feature more snowfall than normal, at least in the higher elevations. The National Weather Service's Albuquerque office is predicting above-average snow snowfall in the state's higher-elevation mountain areas during December through February.
Santa Fe Weather: Mostly cloudy today with a 40-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms with today’s high reaching 52. Tonight: Mostly cloudy with the overnight low 30 and a continued 40-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms. Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy and cooler with the high, 43 and a 20-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms.