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August 6 First News: Events Mark The 70th Anniversary of Atomic Bombings Of Japan (Listen)

Civil rights leader James Lawson will headline a peace conference in Los Alamos aimed at drawing attention to the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. The confidant to the late Martin Luther King Jr. will speak tomorrow at the Campaign Nonviolence National Conference and Los Alamos Peace Vigils scheduled to last until Sunday. Organizer John Dear says activists wanted to hold the conference in the town that gave birth to the atomic weapon during the anniversary of the bombings to highlight the continuing threat nuclear weapons pose to humanity. Attendee also will see an English-language premiere of "Message from Hiroshima," a documentary by Hiroshima survivor Masaaki Tanabe. During the World War Two-era Manhattan Project, scientists at the then-secret city of Los Alamos developed the weapon dropped on the Japanese cities. ..,.

Meanwhile… There was a moment of silence in Hiroshima, Japan today to mark the 70th anniversary of the day the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city, killing 140,000 people. A ceremony was held today in Hiroshima's peace park, near the epicenter of the attack. The bomb and another one dropped on Nagasaki three days later prompted Japan's surrender in World War Two.

A New Mexico judge has dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges but retained murder counts against two Albuquerque police officers who shot and killed a homeless man last year. Judge Neil Candelaria said Wednesday the manslaughter counts were not applicable. However, he denied a motion by defense attorneys at the preliminary hearing to dismiss murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery charges.  The developments came after the state rested its case against police Officer Dominique Perez and former Detective Keith Sandy at the hearing to determine if the case will go to trial. Perez and Sandy shot and killed James Boyd in March 2014. Police say Boyd threatened officers with knives. The defense has started calling witnesses to the stand.

New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller is using a government email account to conduct business after the New Mexico Republican Party raised transparency concerns over his Gmail account. The New Mexican reports State Auditor Tim Keller set up the Gmail account to conduct government business shortly after his election. Spokeswoman Justine Freeman says the email was never for Keller's private use and was always considered public. GOP spokesman Patrick Garrett said it's hypocritical for Keller to advocate for government ethics while showing a disregard for transparent government. New Mexico Foundation for Open Government executive director Susan Boe says the Gmail account is not illegal if the emails can be made available through public records requests.

The partial shutdown of two coal-fired power plants on the Navajo Nation would have been enough for the tribe to meet the federal government's proposed limits for carbon dioxide emissions. But the final rule issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week creates uncertainty. The new targets in the EPA's Clean Power Plan are more stringent than proposed last year. The utilities that operate the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station near the Arizona-Utah border and the Four Corners Power Plant in northwestern New Mexico say previous and planned shutdowns of units might not be enough to satisfy the limits. Since states don't have jurisdiction over reservations, the tribes can create implementation plans or defer to the federal government. The limits on the reservation plants won't factor into state goals

A Santa Fe lawyer representing the estate of a 14-year-old girl who died after taking a hallucinogenic drug at a rave concert has filed a lawsuit alleging negligence against 10 defendants, including the state of New Mexico. The Albuquerque Journal reports the wrongful death complaint filed Monday seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Hannah Bruch ingested MDMA, also known as "Molly," before the August 2013 concert at Expo New Mexico and fell ill during the show. She was pronounced dead at a hospital. The lawsuit claims that security personnel and EMTs weren't prepared to handle the girl's condition and that medical personnel had failed to diagnose and treat Bruch. An Expo New Mexico spokeswoman released a statement saying security staff had taken the necessary measures to provide on-site medical attention.

The Santa Fe Opera is set to commission a production about Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs. The New Mexican reports that the Santa Fe Opera will has announced that its latest commission will be based on the technology pioneer. Opera leadership says "The Revolution of Steve Jobs" will premiere during the company's 2017 season and will be written by composer Mason Bates and librettist Mark Campbell. This will be the first opera produced by the Burlingame, California-based Bates, who rose to national prominence during the past decade by fusing traditional symphonic resources with electronic sounds. Armed with a laptop computer, he often performs in the presentation of his compositions. Campbell is well-known to opera lovers, having authored 15 librettos since the mid-1990s.

Santa Fe Weather: Mostly sunny today with the high topping-out at 92. Tonight: Partly cloudy with the overnight low down to 57. Tomorrow: Mostly sunny and a bit cooler with the forecast high 90 and a 20-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms.