Police & Prison
Former New Mexico sheriff, Laguna police chief ID’d in machine gun conspiracy case
Former Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales and former Pueblo of Laguna Police Chief Rudy Mora are being accused by federal authorities of participating in an illegal weapons scheme, according to a recently unsealed federal indictment from Maryland. The two have not been charged with crimes, but prosecutors say they signed false documents to help gun […]
Why a Texas Panhandle city hit pause on a proposed abortion ‘travel ban’ — for now
LUBBOCK — About 125 miles of empty roads, forgotten small towns and cattle ranches separate Lubbock from its northern counterpart, Amarillo. The two biggest cities in the Texas High Plains share some similarities — they’re both majority conservative, reside in the far flung parts of the state, and share a focus on reviving their downtown […]
Otero County agrees to pay more for incarcerating people in Texas
Otero County Commissioners voted unanimously earlier this month to pay more for people arrested in Otero County held at the Hudspeth County Jail in Sierra Blanca, Texas. “Hudspeth County houses detainees for Otero County Detention Center when the facility is overcrowded and/or due to short staffing,” wrote Nina Sisler, the Otero County correctional services director, […]
Lubbock County becomes latest to approve ‘abortion travel ban’
LUBBOCK — Three county commissioners approved an ordinance Monday that would bar pregnant Texas women from traveling through the unincorporated area of Lubbock County for an abortion in another state. The commissioners – Jason Corley, Terence Kovar and Jordan Rackler – voted for the ordinance, which can only be enforced by private citizens who file […]
New Mexicans pressure federal lawmakers to join calls for ceasefire in Gaza
New Mexico’s congressional delegation is facing pressure in D.C. and here in New Mexico to join the call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. There were two marches in New Mexico on Monday calling for a ceasefire, one in the state’s capital, Santa Fe, and the other in its largest city, Albuquerque. They followed […]
On the Navajo Nation, a daughter yearns for her mother, missing for five years.
Julia Vicente always walked the same route home from visiting her friend. She’d traverse about a mile of Shiprock, a town on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico’s northwestern corner, along a dirt road through a neighborhood, bordered by hills and an irrigation canal on one side and a busy highway on the other. She’d […]
AI bots are helping 911 dispatchers with their workload
In the middle of a storm, 911 call centers often find themselves inundated with reports of fallen trees, flooded roads and panicked residents. Every call matters, but with multiple reports of the same incident pouring in, the pressure on emergency services can become overwhelming. Amid the chaos, a technological ally has emerged: artificial intelligence. In […]
Boosted accessibility for voters in ongoing NM local election
Polls are open for New Mexican voters, and thousands of people have already voted, both in-person and by mail. And with additional accessibility measures enacted by the 2023 Voting Rights Act, people could find more ease voting in this election than in the past. As of Tuesday morning, voters had turned in 6,418 ballots, according […]
Independent immigration court system advocated in U.S. Senate hearing
WASHINGTON — An immigration judge and lawyer told a U.S. Senate Judiciary panel on Wednesday that an independent immigration court would help ease a backlog of more than 2 million pending cases. Because the immigration court system is an arm of the U.S. Justice Department — the Executive Office for Immigration Review — each presidential […]
Oñate statue shooter to remain in jail until trial
TIERRA AMARILLA — A man drove more than an hour from his home in the foothills near Albuquerque to Española where he provoked a crowd gathered around a contested public monument, shot someone, assaulted someone else and fled back south until he was stopped by tribal police. Ryan Martinez, 23, will stay in the Rio […]
Judge upholds temporary gun ban in public parks and playgrounds in Bernalillo County
For now, no one is allowed to carry a firearm in public parks or playgrounds in New Mexico’s largest metro area, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge David Urias on Wednesday let stand a temporary ban on carrying firearms in public parks and playgrounds in the city of Albuquerque and the surrounding Bernalillo County. […]
Hopi, Akimel O’odham activist, civil society groups call for hate crime prosecution
The person recorded on video shooting a Hopi, Akimel O’odham activist in Española on Sept. 28 is being prosecuted by the state of New Mexico for attempted murder and aggravated assault. Meanwhile, the victim, Jacob Johns, along with civil society groups in and outside of New Mexico, are asking the U.S. Department of Justice to […]