The future of the Gila River will be a topic today during an Albuquerque meeting of a state government panel with powers over New Mexico’s waterways. The Interstate Stream Commission meeting agenda includes a series of presentations on proposals that call for diverting a portion of the Gila River. However, the agenda does not include any time for public comment, and that's what has environmental groups upset. They plan to rally outside the meeting. The commission is already being sued over alleged violations of the state Open Meetings Act, which has spurred questions about the transparency surrounding the commission's handling of Gila River planning. A spokeswoman for the commission says there will be more time to comment during a meeting Friday in Silver City. The commission faces a year-end deadline for deciding whether to accept federal funds to build a diversion and storage system along the Gila.
The new Republican majority in the New Mexico House of Representatives will mean challenges for environmentalists. That opinion from Douglas Meiklejohn, Executive Director for the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. Meiklejohn says the GOP-led House will make it easier for industries seeking less regulation and fewer restrictions on their operations. *****111014- Meiklejohn-2 :15*****Meiklejohn is also concerned about environmental protections in the wake of Governor Susana Martinez’s re-election, noting that her administration has been working toward rolling back environmental protection measures.
New Mexico's largest electric provider says work on its newest solar-powered generating station is expected to be done by the end of the year. PNM officials say solar panels are now being installed at the Meadow Lake Solar Energy Center in Valencia County. Once complete, the more than nine-megawatt solar farm will have nearly 123-thousand panels capable of generating enough electricity for 35-hundred average residential customers. Utility officials also say the solar farm will provide an estimated 200-thousand dollars in new tax revenue for the county next year. The Meadow Lake array is one of three solar centers PNM is constructing this year.
Officials are set to sign off on an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department aimed at overhauling the troubled police department in New Mexico's most populous city. But advocates say the agreement doesn't go far enough at reforming an agency under scrutiny for excessive force and more than 40 police shooting since 2010. Albuquerque officials are expected this week to formally sign the agreement that calls for new training and protocols for investigating officer shootings. It also calls for the agency to dismantle some troubled units. David Correia, a police critic and an American Studies professor at the University of New Mexico, says he had hoped to see criminal charges and officers get fired. He says the agreement relies too much on Albuquerque police crafting its own reform policies.
New Mexico officials vow to push on to ensure Spaceport America becomes a success despite a recent tragedy that has delayed commercial flights by Virgin Galactic, the anchor tenant at the taxpayer-financed spaceport. The New Mexico Spaceport Authority is developing a plan that includes hiring more staff to boost marketing efforts aimed at diversifying the spaceport's client base. The authority's executive director, Christine Anderson, says it's important to remember that it's not the Virgin Galactic Spaceport, but rather Spaceport America. Speculation about the future has been swirling in the wake of Virgin Galactic's spaceship breaking up over the California desert during a test flight. One pilot was killed and another was seriously injured. Even before the incident, industry experts said New Mexico had done little to recruit more space companies.
Police are looking for a suspect in the shooting death of a man outside a Rio Rancho home. Officers on Saturday found a man in his 30s who had been shot multiple times. Investigators say they're looking for a man around 5 feet, 7 inches tall with a slender build. He was last seen wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark pants.
New Mexico's highest court has ruled that judges can't impose high bail bond requirements for criminal defendants solely on the seriousness of the crime. The state Supreme Court made the ruling Thursday in the case of an Albuquerque man charged with murder who remained in jail awaiting trial for more than two years because he couldn't afford a 250-thousand dollar bail bond. The justices say a district court judge failed to follow New Mexico law requiring the "least restrictive" pretrial release conditions to ensure the safety of others and assure a defendant will appear later in court. The court says wealth determines whether someone remains in jail if bond is based solely on the severity of the crime rather than factors outlined in law such as a defendant's criminal history.
Santa Fe Weather: Sunny today with the high near 64. Tonight: mostly clear with the overnight low, 33. Tomorrow: Sunny, but not as warm with the high, 55.