Non-Local News Releases

New Mexico State Veterans Home (992 South Broadway)

Building D/Annex classroom

9 a.m. - noon

Truth or Consequences—The governor's Veterans' Advisory Council will host its next quarterly meeting on March 13 at the New Mexico State Veterans Home in Truth or Consequences, at 992 South Broadway. 

The meeting will be from 9 a.m. – noon in Building D/Annex classroom—the building to the left as you enter the grounds.

Sugarite Canyon State Park

SANTA FE - New Mexico State Parks, a Division of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD), announces that, effective immediately, ice fishing and any other ice related activities are closed at Lake Maloya and Lake Alice within Sugarite Canyon State Park.

State Parks is instituting this closure because warming temperatures have reduced the thickness of the ice to the point that it is no longer safe for the public to access the lake surfaces. For more information, call 575-445-5607 or visit www.emnrd.nm.gov/spd / and click on Park Alerts for updates.

Ready for warmer weather? Reserve your camping space up to six months in advance at any of your 35 New Mexico State Parks through reserveamerica.com !

ALBUQUERQUE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham today signed critical public safety legislation to reduce gun violence and strengthen penalties for violent criminals.  

"This legislation strikes at the heart of issues that are keeping New Mexicans up at night," said Gov. Lujan Grisham. "We are losing far too many lives when guns get into the wrong hands and violent criminals are allowed to recommit again and again. This legislation addresses both." 

  House Bill 129, Firearm Sale Waiting Period Crimes, establishes a statewide 7-day waiting period for the purchase of firearms, double the current waiting period required by the federal government. The law includes exemptions for concealed carry permit holders, Federal Firearms Licensees, transactions between law enforcement officers, law enforcement agencies, and immediate family members. The bill is sponsored by Reps. Andrea Romero, Dayan Hochman-Vigil and Cristina Parajon, and Sens. Linda M. Lopez and Joseph Cervantes. 

ECECD launches new partnership to grow high-quality licensed child care in New Mexico
 

SANTA FE - In partnership with WESST, Civitas Strategies, and Growing Up New Mexico, the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD), launched CRECER (Capacity Resources for Enhancing Care, Excellence, and Resilience), a child care business support initiative for providers that want to grow stronger businesses and increase the quality of their programs.

The CRECER initiative, named after the Spanish verb for ‘growth,' provides robust business development resources to increase the supply of high-quality licensed child care in New Mexico, through three strategies: business training, a grant program, and the CRECER Collaborative.

Seedlings offered to communities, colleges and universities in the state 

Santa Fe, NM – To celebrate Arbor Month and highlight the importance of New Mexico's urban trees and forests, the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department's Forestry Division is providing 50 tree seedlings to communities or higher education institutions interested in holding an Arbor Day Celebration. The second Friday in March is recognized as Arbor Day in the Land of Enchantment. This year it will be March 8, 2024. 

N.M. Delegation Welcomes Nearly $2 Million to Restore Watersheds Damaged by Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) are welcoming nearly $2 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fund the development of a comprehensive Watershed Restoration Plan for the areas directly impacted by the 2022 Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fire.  

The investment is funded through the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act, secured by the New Mexico Congressional Delegation.  

New Mexico Supreme Court reinstates child pornography convictions of Los Alamos man

SANTA FE – The state Supreme Court today reinstated a Los Alamos man's convictions for possession, distribution and manufacturing of child pornography.

In a unanimous opinion, the state's highest court reversed the Court of Appeals and clarified the legal elements that must be proven for the crime of manufacturing child pornography.

Rael was sentenced in 2017 to nine years in prison for convictions of three counts of manufacturing child pornography and one count each of distribution and possession of child pornography.

Supreme Court finds no double jeopardy violations in Albuquerque man's convictions for manslaughter and other offenses

SANTA FE – The state Supreme Court ruled today there was no double jeopardy violation in the manslaughter and aggravated battery convictions of an Albuquerque man for the fatal shooting of a friend he found in bed with his former girlfriend at a home they shared.

In a unanimous opinion, the justices reversed the state Court of Appeals and reinstated Clive Phillips' felony conviction of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for shooting Adrian Carriaga with a handgun. The justices affirmed the defendant's manslaughter conviction for killing Carriaga.