Regional

Dry conditions are prompting federal officials to impose more fire restrictions in New Mexico.

The Bureau of Land Management will be implementing restrictions across 2.5 million acres in central New Mexico starting May 20. The area includes Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, McKinley, Sandoval, Socorro and Valencia counties.

Campfires as well as charcoal, coal and wood stoves will be prohibited under the BLM restrictions. Smoking will also be limited to vehicles, buildings and developed recreation sites.

Federal prosecutors say the last of nine defendants charged in connection with a drug trafficking case in southern New Mexico has been sentenced.

Sandra Portillo on Wednesday was ordered to serve 15 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. She and her husband were accused of using Pettit Farms and Nursery in Anthony, N.M., as a place to store and sell drugs.

Prosecutors say the Portillos and their sons sold drugs to an undercover agent on five separate occasions.

Gov. Susana Martinez says New Mexico National Guard senior officers can serve as commanders of active duty military forces assigned to help with wildfires and other emergencies in the state.

The governor said Wednesday the agreement with the Defense Department should help streamline emergency response efforts. Her announcement came as New Mexico braces for a potentially difficult wildfire season because of prolonged drought conditions.

Congress has approved an additional $19 million for nuclear waste cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The New Mexico congressional delegation on Wednesday announced the approval of a "reprogramming" request by the Department of Energy to transfer money from other programs to ensure the lab can meet its promise to remove thousands of barrels of radioactive waste by 2014.

The potential dangers of the waste, which is stored above ground, made national headlines in 2011 when the Las Conchas fire raged near the lab.

A new audit has found that more than 50 inmates were mistakenly released early from New Mexico prisons largely due to miscalculations.

The New Mexico Corrections Department released Wednesday a review of 6,900 inmate files and identified 51 offenders who were incorrectly released early between September 2010 and September 2012.

Names of those released early were not named since authorities were seeking to bring them back into custody.

Officials say the audit was "phase 1" of three massive reviews of inmate files.

Time now for KRWG’s Story Corps. Today we meet Sandra Iturbe as she talks to her cousin, Cemelli de Aztlán about the Temazcal or pregnancy sweating lodge and how that was a healing experience not only for Cemelli who had had a traumatic experience when she gave her son for adoption at 16 years old.

Deputies from New Mexico's Hidalgo County and Arizona's Cochise County are now certified to enforce laws in either county.

A group of deputies from both sheriffs' departments met Monday to get cross-certified.

Officials say the move stands to benefit both agencies since there are some instances where crimes cross state jurisdiction and the ability to continue investigations seamlessly is instrumental in solving cases.

A federal agency says New Mexico is doing a poor job running federally funded housing programs and that money for administration will be withhold until the state develops a plan to fix the shortcomings.

A Department of Housing and Urban Development official cites deficiencies in cash management, responsiveness to the federal agency and timely distribution of funding.

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the state director of HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development also cites 23 citizen complaints about the state's performance in administering HUD grants.

A bipartisan panel will meet in Alamogordo next month to screen candidates for a vacant state district court judgeship in southern New Mexico.

District Court Judge William Brogan is retiring this month and a Judicial Nominating Commission will recommend candidates to Republican Gov. Susana Martinez for possible appointment to the vacancy.

Lawyers wanting to be considered for the vacancy must submit applications by June 11.