Al Jazeera Journalist Peter Greste, who spent more than 400 days in a Cairo prison for supposedly conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood speaks in Santa Fe tonight. Greste was released this past February. Greste will be speaking about his experience in jail and the current state of journalism tonight at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Barcelona street at 7pm. The event is a benefit for KSFR.
The Navajo Nation's elections director says he plans to appeal a court decision that said officials couldn't move forward with Tuesday's belated tribal presidential contest. Elections director Edison Wauneka says officials don't believe that Window Rock District Judge Carol Perry had the power to overturn a tribal Supreme Court order that called for the election to be held Tuesday. Perry ruled the law is clear that a referendum vote on language requirements for the presidency must be held before Navajos choose their next leader. Wauneka says he hopes to get the Supreme Court to review the matter in time for the election to take place Tuesday.
Tribal lawmakers passed to fund a referendum that essentially would eliminate a Navajo language fluency requirement for the tribe's top two posts.
A grand opening will be held Wednesday for a new nature education center in Los Alamos. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the Los Alamos Nature Center will serve as a site for discussions on subjects ranging from bighorn sheep to honeybees. Los Alamos County provided more than four-million dollars for the building and hired the nonprofit Pajarito Environmental Education Center to run it. The Pajarito Environmental Education Center has been renting a pre-school building since 2005 to offer its ongoing programs, which include nature playtimes for toddlers, local hikes and wildflower walks.
The state Water Trust Board has forgiven a $562,000 debt from the San Miguel County city of Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Optic reports that City Council members made the debt reduction official last week. The Water Trust Board awarded the city $330,000 in funding in 2011 for an effluent project and another $1.5 million for a well replacement project. When that funding was awarded, the board determined that 60 percent of it would be a grant, which wouldn't have to be repaid, and the remaining 40 percent would be a loan. But the board recently decided to change the funding it allocated for those two projects into a 90 percent grant and 10 percent loan, effectively forgiving $562,000 of the original debt.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department has asked a federal court for permission to intervene in a lawsuit over revised rules for managing Mexican gray wolves in the Southwest. Arizona officials say their motions are aimed at protecting the state's interest in the wolf reintroduction program and recovery of the endangered predator in Arizona and New Mexico. The motions were filed in response to a lawsuit by environmentalists. Aside from asking to intervene, the wildlife agency also wants the lawsuit to be dismissed. Arizona officials say under the revised rules, there's more habitat available and potential for growth of the wolf population than previously. The agency is also working with the Arizona attorney general's office to challenge the federal government's failure to develop an updated recovery plan for the wolves.
A Hobbs obstetrician and gynecologist whose medical license was suspended after he was accused of having sex with patients and leaving some giving birth unattended has told regulators that he has joined a new practice. The Albuquerque Journal reports that Dr. Chris Driskill has informed state Medical Board that he had fulfilled the requirements to reactivate his license.His license was suspended in November based on allegations that he kept patients waiting, had affairs with patients and staff and drank on the job. His attorney disputed the allegations, but Driskill eventually acknowledged that sufficient evidence existed to find he violated the state Medical Practice Act. Driskill says in a statement that the events of the last several months have had a profound effect on him and his family.
Santa Fe Weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 62, with a chance for rain showers this afternoon. Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40, with a chance for showers. Tomorrow: Mostly sunny with a high of 66 and a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms.