News

"Breaking Bad" actor Steven Michael Quezada is scheduled to address the League of United Latin American Citizens New Mexico convention as activists aim to tackle education reform.

Around 800 activists from around New Mexico are expected to take part of the three-day state convention of LULAC New Mexico slated to begin Friday at Albuquerque's Sheraton Uptown Hotel.

The state's first Latina congresswoman, Michelle Lujan Grisham, also is scheduled to address advocates.

A 70-year-old woman whose mummified body was recently found in her Santa Fe apartment was a Chicana activist, teacher and author.

Police say the decomposed remains of Barbara Salinas-Norman were discovered last week. Authorities say she may have been dead more than a year.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Salinas-Norman founded and ran a publishing company called Pinata Publications and was the author of "Los Tres Cerdos: Nacho, Tito and Miguel" — her version of "The Three Little Pigs."

  According to statistics maintained by the City of Las Cruces, the city’s population surpassed the 100,000 mark as of April 1. The milestone was reached during the period between July 1, 2012 when the population estimate was 99,665 and April 1, when the population was estimated at 100,984.

“This is tremendously important news for us as a community,” said Mayor Ken Miyagishima. “It signals a continued healthy economy, and proves Las Cruces remains a desirable place to live, work, play and retire.”

An industry report says New Mexico's housing market is seeing fewer signs of distress.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the report by the Mortgage Bankers Association shows 9.2 percent of homes in the state were either delinquent on mortgage payments or somewhere in the foreclosure process during the first three months of the year.

That's an improvement from 10 percent in the preceding fourth quarter and 9.7 percent in the first quarter of 2012.

In stable economic times, roughly 5 percent of homes in New Mexico are typically in some state of distress.

Alamogordo officials are scheduled Tuesday to take another try at passing a proposed ban on using cell phones while behind the wheel.

The Alamogordo Daily News reports that the city commission has struggled to pass the proposal for the past two months as members have added and deleted prohibitions on talking while driving and exceptions for law enforcement officers and other emergency personnel.

New Mexico Republican Rep. Steve Pearce has introduced legislation to expand the mission of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad.

Pearce says that because the plant is only tasked with handling radioactive waste generated by the Department of Energy as part of a defense mission, it is running out of material to process. And that will mean a loss of jobs.

  Every Monday at 7:51am on Morning Edition, Fred Martino covers the week's top local business stories with Las Cruces Sun News Business Editor Brook Stockberger.  Subscribe to our podcast on the right side of this page so you never miss a segment.

 The Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department, along with New Mexico State Police, the Las Cruces Police Department and several other local law enforcement agencies will gather together next week to honor officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

The Southern New Mexico Fallen Peace Officers Memorial will take place over two days, beginning with a candlelight vigil Monday, May 13, at 8 p.m. on the front lawn of the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department, 845 N. Motel Boulevard.

Ninety-year-old Texas Congressman Ralph Hall says he's planning to run for another term next year, extending his tenure as the House's oldest member.

The Rockwall Republican first was elected in 1980, as a Democrat. He switched to the GOP in 2004.

The Paris News reported Hall made his announcement official last week, a few days after his birthday on May 3.

Hall tells The Dallas Morning News he still runs two miles almost daily and is surprised by his good health, doesn't understand it but likes it. He says a decline in his health would make him consider retirement.

Facebook fans of the Albuquerque BioPark have spoken.

They've chosen Abiquiu (AH'-bee-kyoo) — or Abi for short— as the name of the female giraffe calf that was born at the zoo on April 20.

Officials say more than 1,000 votes were cast, with 60 percent in favor of Abiquiu. Gisele came in a distance second.

Zookeeper Bricker Thietten says Abiquiu was a favorite among zoo workers because if the female giraffe ever moves to a different zoo, she'll always have a New Mexico name.

Abiquiu is the name of a small community in northern New Mexico.

Federal authorities say one fugitive remains at large after four were arrested this week on drug charges stemming from a roundup along the New Mexico-Texas border.

FBI spokesman Frank Fisher identified the last fugitive as 63-year-old Gerardo Garcia of Vado, N.M. The FBI is asking for the public's help in finding Garcia, who is charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and distribution of cocaine.

He's one of 29 people charged in numerous criminal complaints with distributing cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana in and around southern Dona Ana County.

U.S. Border Patrol agents have seized nearly $270,000 in cash during an inspection at a checkpoint along Interstate 10 in southern New Mexico.

Agents found 17 vacuum sealed bundles of money hidden in a rear quarter panel while inspecting a semi-truck that was hauling vehicles.

The truck driver denied knowing anything about the money. The cash and the vehicles were seized by the Border Patrol.

A lawyer for a Texas paramedic arrested on charges of possessing bomb-making material says his client will plead not guilty and had no connection to the fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people last month.

Waco attorney Jonathan Sibley said in a prepared statement Saturday that his client, Bryce Reed anxiously awaits his next court appearance Wednesday, which will include a detention hearing.

Authorities arrested Reed on Friday, but stressed that he has not been linked to the April 17 explosion in West.

An investment broker who fled to France after investigators began looking into pay-to-play scandal involving state investments is now suing his wife in New Mexico District Court.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports (http://bit.ly/14dBaxn) that the lawsuit filed this week by Marc Correra accuses his estranged wife of hacking his company's email account with the intention of getting privileged information.

Correra claims the "criminal wiretap" caused him to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend himself in the couple's divorce proceedings.