New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has signed a bill that would give state judges full access to the criminal histories of violent offenders, including some juveniles. The bill, called "Jaydon's Law," is in reference to Jaydon Chavez-Silver, an Albuquerque teenager who was shot and killed at a party last summer. The legislation would change the state's Criminal Procedure Act to give judges access to an adult's youth records, which currently is not allowed under state law. It would not apply to any crimes committed before age 14. Martinez signed the measure and another related billSunday at the New Mexico State Police headquarters in Albuquerque.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is expected to take a key step toward launching a federally funded cleanup of 48 old mining sites in that state. One of the sites includes a mine that sent wastewater into rivers in three states last August. The Environmental Protection Agency would oversee the project but won't proceed without the support of the governor and local officials. San Juan County and the southwestern Colorado town of Silverton endorsed the cleanup plan last week. Last fall during preliminary cleanup work the EPA inadvertently triggered the release of 3 million gallons of wastewater from the inactive Gold King Mine. Rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah were polluted. Now New Mexico environment officials say the chemicals that settled into the soil along rivers in the northwest part of the state could be disturbed with spring runoff.
A Santa Fe man who was acquitted in 2011 of vehicular homicide in a crash that killed four teenagers has been arrested again for drunken driving.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that records indicate Scott Owens was booked Friday on multiple charges including DWI, stalking and marijuana possession. The 34-year-old is being held without bond until his arraignment today. Police say he was arrested after they received a call from his ex-girlfriend reported he was parked across the street from her home. Police say Owens was found with 6 grams of marijuana and appeared to be intoxicated.
The former president of Albuquerque's police union wants a felony child abuse charge against her thrown out. An attorney for Stephanie Lopez tells KRQE-TV he has filed a motion to have all charges dismissed. Attorney Sam Bregman says the state failed to prosecute their case within a 60-day window. Lopez was arrested in December on charges of child abuse and bribery or intimidation of a witness. A criminal complaint filed by a Bernalillo County Sheriff's detective says Lopez repeatedly struck a teenage relative during a dispute over a utility shut-off warning. Lopez resigned as union president shortly after.
The southwest New Mexico ranch owned by media mogul Ted Turner will temporarily shelter five Mexican gray wolves to be moved to Mexico. The Albuquerque Journal reports the New Mexico Game and Fish Commission gave unanimous approval Friday, more than a month after the panel denied Ladder Ranch's appeal for a permit to host Mexican wolves as part of a federal species recovery program. Federal wildlife officials will transport the animals from Wolf Haven International in Washington state to New Mexico. The Ladder Ranch stop is intended to relieve travel stress and work around breeding season.
The federal government is giving the state of New Mexico an extension until October 2016 to meet tougher federal identification requirements after the state Legislature approved new rules for immigrant driver's licenses. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security notified New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez of the extension on Friday in a letter. The department last year denied New Mexico an extension from requirements under the federal REAL ID Act. After that, some military installations such as White Sands Missile Range stopped accepting state driver's licenses to gain entry. Martinez plans to sign revisions to a law that gives state driver's licenses to immigrants regardless of legal status.
The U.S. Justice Department says a Native American community in northern New Mexico doesn't have any claims to Valles Caldera National Preserve. The court says that’s because of a 12-year statute of limitations on tribal land claims. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department said in a motion filed this month in federal court that Jemez Pueblo abandoned any title it may have held to parts of the preserve. The motion is the latest step in a legal battle over tens of thousands of pristine acres in the Jemez Mountains that is also known as the Valle Grande. Jemez Pueblo considers the nearly 140-square-mile swath of federally-managed public land as a spiritual sanctuary. The lawsuit is in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephan Vidmar, who has scheduled a status conference on the case March 9.
Two Albuquerque Girls Scouts have picked an unusual spot to sell Girl Scout cookies — a marijuana dispensary. KRQE-TV in Albuquerque reports a Junior Girl Scout and a Brownie set up shop Saturday outside medical marijuana dispensary Ultra Health and then sold more than 60 boxes. Ultra Health manager James Gambling says he invited the scouts and offered to donate $1 for every box the girls sold. He says "the munchies" is a stereotype that comes with marijuana, so it was fitting to have the Girl Scouts outside. Phil Temer, a dad of one of the girls, says he saw nothing wrong with the girls selling near the dispensary. Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails spokeswoman Carol Ann Short says selling outside medical marijuana dispensaries is against scout rules.