Travel Guides

New Mexico News Brief, Friday, Aug. 22 - KOAT

July 28, 2007 - Posted in Deals, Expedia Travel, Mexico packages, Reviews, Shows

The National Weather Service said most of New Mexico is in for a quiet weather day Friday. Some isolated showers and thunderstorms are expected over the higher terrain, and temperatures are expected to increase.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
- Albuquerque-based Eclipse Aviation has announced a large layoff in a belt-tightening move. Pink slips will be given to 650 employees, including temporary workers and people employed less than six months. The layoffs come less than a month after a management shakeup that saw the ouster of founder and former CEO Vern Raburn.
MESA, Ariz.
- Police in Mesa, Arizona, have arrested a suspected sexual predator and found a missing New Mexico teenager who's pregnant with his child. Thirty-seven-year-old Frank Lerma Gamez of Mesa has been booked for investigation of three counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count each of unlawful imprisonment, resisting arrest and aggravated assault on a police officer. Police say the 14-year-old, who first denied her real name, is listed as a runaway from New Mexico and is six months' pregnant.
PORTLAND, Ore.
- An American Indian tribe in Oregon has adopted a law recognizing same-sex marriage. Tribal law specialists say the Coquille tribe appears to be the first tribe to sanction such marriages. Most tribal law doesn't address the issue; the Navajo and Cherokee tribes prohibit same-sex marriages.
LAS CRUCES, N.M.
- A mistrial has been declared in the case of a former Las Cruces police officer accused of assaulting his girlfriend. State District Judge Doug Driggers issued the ruling yesterday in Las Cruces after jurors failed to reach verdicts on three felony charges against Loren Barela.
SANTA FE, N.M.
- State health officials still haven't pinpointed the cause of food poisoning at a Santa Fe restaurant that's sickened 12 people -- including an infant who officials suspect got sick through breast feeding. The latest Department of Health figures include three more salmonella bacteria cases linked to Diego's Cafe. The illnesses affected people who had eaten at the restaurant in late July and early August. State Department of Health spokeswoman Deborah Busemeyer says there are now 12 salmonella cases traced to Diego's Cafe.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded more than $490,000 to the city of Santa Fe, which will use the money to buy buses. The buses will be used to connect passengers to the New Mexico Rail Runner commuter train that's scheduled to reach Santa Fe later this year.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
- A man sought in the shooting death of another man last month in downtown Albuquerque has been arrested in Los Angeles and returned to Albuquerque. Joseph Espinoza is being held without bond this morning in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center.
SANTA FE, N.M.
- American Indian artists are setting up for this weekend's 87th annual Santa Fe Indian Market. Organizers are advising market-goers to park away from downtown and walk to the market, which is on and around the Santa Fe Plaza.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
- The state Game Commission is expected to decide in October whether to approve a recommendation to down list the desert bighorn sheep from endangered to threatened. A public comment period on the proposal and the rest of the state Department of Game and Fish's biennial review is now under way.
SANTA FE, N.M.
- Gov. Bill Richardson has collected more than $12,000 in contributions in the last month to help retire his presidential campaign debt. It's the smallest amount the governor has raised since dropping out of the Democratic presidential race in early January.
Richardson's latest financial report filed with the Federal Election Commission shows he has debts of more than $276,000. The largest amount of the campaign's debt --about $234,000 -- is for travel expenses, including the use of private aircraft owned by the governor's political supporters in New Mexico.
LAS CRUCES, N.M.
- A former Best Buy worker is in trouble with Las Cruces authorities. Amanda Hopkins has been indicted on a half-dozen counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, more than 20 counts of fraudulent signing of a credit card slip and a single count of disposing of stolen property.
CLOVIS, N.M.
- The city of Clovis is the recipient of $1 million from the Economic Development Administration. The investment check will go toward infrastructure improvements that will serve the Clovis Industrial Park.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
- New Mexico is considered a swing state in presidential and statewide elections, and the attention it's getting shows. Jack Kemp was in Albuquerque Thursday night, stumping for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, while Howard Dean campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
SANTA FE, N.M.
- A task force recommends that Las Cruces be the spot for a state veterans museum, and Governor Richardson agrees. The governor said veterans also support having the museum in the southern New Mexico city.

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