Students at public schools in Ruidoso will not have classes today, as firefighters tackle a fire in town. Numerous crews are fighting the Moon Mountain Fire that was sparked yesterday afternoon above Gavilan Canyon in Ruidoso. A news release from the city says aircraft made several drops of fire retardant into the evening Monday. No injuries have been reported, and the fire has been 30-percent contained. Schools in Ruidoso are closed today. Winds forecasted in the area and across the state will pose challenges for firefighters working to fully contain the blaze.
Managers at New Mexico retirement and permanent funds say balances are recovering somewhat this month after a punishing start of the year. Balances at funds overseen by the Public Employee Retirement Association and Education Retirement Board fell by roughly $750 million in January. For the Public Employees Retirement Association, that represents a 5.5 percent decline since the start of the fiscal year in July. Legislative analysts say the retirement funds are unlikely to meet their growth targets this year. Recent declines largely reflect trends in global capital and debt markets. Funds overseen by the New Mexico State Investment Council had a negative 3.4 percent return on investment during January and February. The council oversees nearly $20 billion, including the state's Land Grant Permanent and Severance Tax funds.
A judge has assessed $605,000 in civil penalties against two brothers accused of running a methamphetamine-trafficking operation between New Mexico and Arizona. Prosecutors say Alamogordo judge James W. Counts assessed the penalties Monday against Joe Chavez and Robert Chavez. The brothers were convicted in 2014 at trial of felonies including racketeering, conspiracy, drug trafficking, and multiple counts each of money laundering. Both are serving prison terms and have been fined a total of more than $600-thousand.
If you’ve missed the sounds of roosters and their morning wake-up calls in Eldorado, take heart, the roosters are back. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the New Mexico Court of Appeals has reversed a previous judgement banning the fowl from Eldorado residents’ back yards. The decision reignites the fight between residents who keep chickens and roosters, calling them pets, and those who say the division’s covenants prohibit them. The homeowners association can now take the case to the State Supreme Court.
Navajo Nation officials are looking into the process for removing a tribal lawmaker who has been found guilty of misusing funds. The Farmington Daily Times reports that Mel Begay will remain on the Navajo Nation Council until the process is addressed by the Navajo Election Administration. Begay was convicted Wednesday of 10 criminal counts related to giving more than $30,000 in tribal funds to his family. Begay's trial was the first of two in a years-long investigation of a discretionary fund meant for Navajos facing extreme hardship. More than two dozen other current and former lawmakers have resolved their criminal or ethics cases, many through plea agreements. Begay’s lawyer says he will appeal the conviction.
If you’ve had to miss work because of the flu, you’re not alone. New Mexico health officials say flu activity is widespread around the state and is expected to continue for several more weeks. The Department of Health says elevated flu activity started a bit later than in the previous three seasons but that flu-related hospitalizations and deaths have increased in recent weeks. The department also says the flu vaccine for this season appears to be a good match with strains that are circulating. This flu season New Mexico has identified 115 influenza and pneumonia-related deaths. Of those 115 deaths, 13 were flu-related deaths among adults. The department says many of the pneumonia-related deaths may have been related to complications from having flu because pneumonia is a known complication of influenza infection.
A teenage boy has been arrested in the theft of a fiberglass and metal version of a spaceship from outside the UFO Museum in Roswell. Police say they're still searching for two other suspects. The model spaceship has been a fixture in downtown Roswell, where it was long-mounted outside the UFO museum before a recent snowstorm damaged it. It was being stored behind the museum before it was stolen March 19. Roswell still stirs debate about extraterrestrials seven decades after the 1947 crash of a flying object.
Horsemen are pleased with a decision by the New Mexico Racing Commission to add one more race per day to the schedule at Sunland Park track. The commission made the decision after meeting for more than two hours yesterday in Albuquerque to weigh options for disbursing the purse money that had accumulated while live racing was on hold due to an equine herpes outbreak. But not everyone was pleased. Gary Roybal of the Santa Fe chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens had asked the commission to amend the rules to ensure the extra purse money is equitably distributed. Roybal argued that trainers, breeders and jockeys should also share in the money and that owners who haul in their horses have been left out this season due to the quarantine imposed at the track in January.
A Missoula, Montana-based foundation has announced it has teamed up with two New Mexico state agencies to provide hunter access to 81 square miles of public and state trust land in Catron County in west-central New Mexico. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation said Monday the effort will provide an easement for hunters to use a road that provides the only access to state trust land that is wildlife habitat in the Luera Mountains. The New Mexico Land Office and the state Department of Game and Fish are providing funding for the project.
Federal scientists say the chance of damaging earthquakes hitting east of the Rockies has increased significantly, much of it a man-made byproduct of drilling for energy. Oklahoma now has a 1 in 8 chance of damaging quakes in 2016, surpassing California as the state with the highest probability. In a first-of-its-kind effort, U.S. Geological Survey Monday released a map for damaging quakes in the current year. USGS seismologists said 7-million people live in areas where the risk has dramatically jumped for earthquakes caused by disposal of wastewater. The substance is a byproduct of drilling for oil and gas that is mostly concentrated in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado and Arkansas.