The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department says there are no current suspects in the weekend’s double murder of two Santa Fe teens. The victims have been identified as 18-year old Venancio Cisneros and his 13-year old girlfriend, AnaMarie Ojeda. The two were found dead in a car Saturday morning off a dirt road. Sheriff's officials say no gun was found in the vehicle and the killings are being treated as a double homicide. Sheriff’s Captain Adam Mendoza said police are still not sure exactly when the two were killed.
Social services advocates have filed a lawsuit to stop Governor Susana Martinez's administration from imposing work-related requirements on New Mexicans to qualify for food stamps. The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, the Southwest Organizing Project and several food stamps recipients sued the Human Services Department on Monday, filing the case in state district court in Santa Fe. Starting next month, the state plans to phase-in requirements that some childless adults work in order to receive food stamps and more individuals must search for a job or participate in community service or job training. Human Services spokesman Matt Kennicott called the lawsuit "baseless." The lawsuit contends the department improperly adopted the new regulations, which will apply to about 20-percent of the more than 400-thousand New Mexicans receiving food stamps.
A state district judge has delayed making a decision in the case of an independent voter who is challenging New Mexico's two-party primary system. State District Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd said Monday she wants both the Republican and Democrat parties in New Mexico to weigh in before she makes a ruling. The lawsuit was filed by David Crum on behalf of the state's 250-thousand independent voters. The suit seeks to allow people the right to pick a party on the day of the primary so they can vote. Currently, New Mexico's state elections only let Republicans and Democrats vote during the primary. Officials say voter turnout dropped eight percent in New Mexico's June primary election, with only one in five Democratic and Republican voters casting ballots this year.
Federal authorities say they have seized 84 pounds of marijuana at the Santa Teresa port of entry in New Mexico. The estimated street value of the drugs is more than 67-thousand dollars. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers say the seizure was made shortly around noon Saturday after a vehicle entered the port from Mexico. A CBP officer at the primary inspection booth selected the vehicle for a secondary exam. In secondary CBP narcotic sniffing dog searched the vehicle and alerted to the dashboard area of the vehicle. Officers then found and removed 71 marijuana-filled bundles from the dashboard and gas tank of the vehicle. The 28-year-old driver of the vehicle was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to face charges in the failed smuggling attempt.
A Democratic political consultant's trial on child pornography charges has been postponed until December. The FBI found pornographic images of children on Jason Loera's computer equipment in 2012 while investigating the hijacking of Republican Governor Susana Martinez's campaign email system. Loera's trial was to start Wednesday, but U.S. District Judge James Browning rescheduled it for December at Loera's request. Loera has pleaded not guilty. Former Martinez campaign manager Jamie Estrada pleaded guilty to charges of intercepting email and making false statements to federal agents. Estrada hijacked the governor's 2010 campaign email account. The FBI has said Estrada communicated regularly with Loera and stolen emails were sent from a Loera-controlled account to Martinez political opponents.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will be back in New Mexico for the second time this month to try to rally support for Republican Governor Susana Martinez. Christie will headline campaign events in his role as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. The potential GOP presidential candidate will attend campaign events Thursday in Arizona before he jets off to Farmington, for a noon campaign event for Martinez’s re-election bid. Christie is using his position as chairman of the Republican governors group to help raise money for candidates.
Santa Fe Weather: Mostly sunny today with the high 59. Tonight-Clear skies with the low down to 35. Tomorrow: Sunny and the high, 64.