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Nov. 17 First News: Hearing Officer Recommends PRC Approve PNM's San Juan Plan

The large volume of snow yesterday and overnight have put 22 counties in New Mexico on severe weather alert. All schools and most colleges in our listening area have announced two hour delays. Hazardous driving conditions are reported throughout the northern and central part of the state, especially in Albuquerque and Raton. NMDOT has issued a particular warning of strong crosswinds on north- and southbound roadways.

You can also expect two hour delays at the following local offices: BLM Offices in Santa Fe, First District Court in Santa Fe, Los Alamos National Labs, National Park Service Office in Santa Fe, Pecos Municipal Offices, Santa Fe Magistrate Court, the Social Security Office in Santa Fe, and Taos County and City offices.   

A hearing officer is recommending that state regulators approve a plan for replacing electricity that would be lost by the partial closure of a coal-fired power plant in northwestern New Mexico. The recommendation came Monday in the case of the San Juan Generating Station. Plant manager Public Service Co. of New Mexico proposed using a mix of coal, nuclear, natural gas and solar resources to make up the lost capacity, saying it would be the most economical for ratepayers and would ensure the reliability of the utility's system. Some environmentalists argue coal and nuclear power would end up costing ratepayers more due to cleanup costs and future pollution regulations. The state Public Regulation Commission is expected to act on the recommendation before the end of the year.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez says she's opposed to the Obama administration's plan to accept any more Syrian refugees until there's a clear plan in place to properly vet and place them. Martinez made the comment Monday as several U.S. governors threatened to halt efforts to allow Syrian refugees into their states in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Martinez, the nation's only Latina governor and a leader within the Republican Governors Association, says the top priority should be safety. The Obama administration recently pledged to accept about 10,000 Syrian refugees. Governors in many states are responding to heightened concerns terrorists might use the refugees as cover to sneak across borders. Government statistics show the U.S. has taken about 2,150 Syrians since October 2011 — most in the last year.

A Texas man has pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in New Mexico. Prosecutors say 34-year-old Pablo Alberto Arana-Delgado, of El Paso, entered his plea Monday in a federal court in Las Cruces and was ordered detained pending trial. He was among 20 people accused of drug trafficking, money laundering and immigration offenses. A 45-count indictment alleges Arana-Delgado and the other co-defendants were members of a drug trafficking organization that imported large amounts of cocaine, marijuana and heroin from Mexico and distributed the drugs in Albuquerque and other U.S. cities. Prosecutors say the conspiracy operated in Dona Ana, Luna and Bernalillo counties from October 2014 through last month. Nine of the 20 defendants are in federal custody. The remaining 11 are fugitives and presumed to be in Mexico.

The head of the New Mexico Environment Department says a massive plume of jet fuel at the edge of Albuquerque is shrinking. Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn says an extraction well has removed more than 13 million gallons of contaminated water over the past six months. Another 5,000 tons of soil have been removed from the site at Kirtland Air Force Base since cleanup began two years ago, and more than a half-million gallons of contamination have been sucked from beneath the surface using a vapor-extraction system. But two state senators and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center say progress has been too slow. They're threatening a lawsuit. Flynn says it was the Martinez administration that began pressuring the Air Force, and that critics should have sued years ago when the plume was first discovered.

Syndicated CBS sports talk show host Jim Rome is slated to visit Albuquerque days after the one of the biggest sports nights in the city's history. The Los Angeles-based Rome is scheduled to visit the Duke City on Friday and will interview sports icons from the area. He also will hold an event for fans at the Sandia Resort & Casino on the Sandia Pueblo. His visit on behalf of 610 KNML-AM The Sports Animal comes after Albuquerque native Holly Holm stunned Ronda Rousey in UFC 193, knocking out the women's bantamweight champion in the second round with a powerful kick to the head. New Mexico also upset college football powerhouse Boise State, 31-24, and became bowl eligible for the first time in nearly a decade.

And now these national stories:

The American Medical Association is pushing for warning signs about marijuana use during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Pot's potential harms include premature birth, low birth weight and attention problems in children. The AMA says warnings should be posted at dispensaries that sell pot and on packages of marijuana sold for medical and recreational use. The group adopted that stance at a policy-making meeting Monday in Atlanta. The AMA will seek regulations to put those warnings into effect. Several states have requirements for health warnings on cannabis product labels, but the new policy says only Oregon requires a point of sale warning about use in pregnant or breast-feeding women. Recreational use is legal in Oregon, Alaska, Colorado, Washington state and Washington, D.C. Medical use is legal in 23 states and Washington, D.C.

The University of Missouri would likely be alone among all states’ flagship public universities if it succeeded in meeting student demands to have a 10% black faculty in the next two years. Only a handful of flagship campuses of public universities in the United States top even the 5% mark. The norm for most main campuses is a faculty that’s between 2 and 4 percent black, a fact Universities have become painfully aware of in recent weeks as student demonstrations have called for more teachers of color familiar with the backgrounds and experiences of students of color. These new demands from students at the University of Missouri stem from perceptions of the University’s administrative response to an escalation in racist activities at the University’s Columbia, Missouri campus… Including reports of white students driving trucks in circles around their classmates of color, screaming racist slurs. Several posts on the anonymous social media app YikYak have surfaced containing threats of violence against black students. In the wake of these incidents, students of color successfully called for the resignation of university system president Tim Wolfe and Columbia campus chancellor R. Bowen Loftin.

In Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Santa Claus is free again. The Cherry Hill Mall has eliminated a requirement that parents pay $35 to $50 for a photo or video package for their kids to get into Cherry Hill Mall's Adventure to Santa exhibit. The move to charge for visits with Santa sparked anger from many parents, including some who said the charge inherently pushed away low-income families and ran counter to the spirit of Christmas. The mall said in a statement Monday that it wants to keep things festive and bright in the spirit of the holiday season. Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which manages the mall, says the exhibit is one of only 12 Adventure to Santa attractions in the country. The attraction was free last year.

And the weather in Santa Fe: Today’s high temperature, 37 degrees, partly sunny and breezy. Tonight, partly cloudy, the overnight low around 17. Tomorrow, sunny, with a daytime high near 45 degrees.