By Rodd Cayton Placitas residents needing to know how to shelter in pace is not a matter of “if,” but a matter of “when,” Sandoval County Emergency Manager Dan Heerding said Tuesday night. “Do some homework,” he told those gathering at a community briefing on sheltering in place.”Do some reading. Think about all the emergencies […]
Courts, Justice & Safety
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety
The battle for the ballot: New Mexico Forward Party challenges state law
The New Mexico Forward Party sued the state Tuesday, arguing New Mexico’s ballot access law punishes a newly qualified minor party by forcing its candidates to gather far more signatures than Democrats or Republicans ever have to touch. Party Chairman Bob Perls filed the federal suit in Albuquerque after the Secretary of State’s office disqualified […]
Posted inRio Rancho
DEA, grieving mom bring fentanyl awareness walk to Rio Rancho
By Kevin Hendricks and Julian Paras, The Paper. Rio Rancho families who’ve lost someone to fentanyl got a chance to walk, grieve and organize together Saturday, as the second annual Walk for Lives came to Haynes Community Center and Park. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Field Division and the Rio Rancho chapter of […]
Posted inRio Rancho
Daring rope rescue saves six after ravine crash
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.Six people are recovering after a side-by-side rolled down a steep ravine near Southern Blvd. and 60th St. NW early Saturday, triggering a technical rope rescue that pulled them from terrain crews couldn’t reach on foot. Rio Rancho Fire Rescue crews responded to reports of the rollover with multiple injured occupants, […]
Posted inRio Rancho
Rio Rancho woman charged with felony after vehicle title dispute turns violent
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. A 48-year-old Rio Rancho woman is facing a third-degree felony charge after police say a dispute over signing over a vehicle title turned violent Friday, leaving her ex-wife with a puncture wound from a writing pen. Rio Rancho police responded to the 3000 block of Southern Boulevard SE around 5:48 […]
Posted inRio Rancho
Rio Rancho man faces 9 felony counts in Flock camera vandalism spree
A Rio Rancho man is facing nine felony charges after police say he ripped out and destroyed city-owned license plate reader cameras and solar equipment along NM 528, leaving handmade “Republic of New Mexico” flags in their place. The man is charged with three counts each of larceny over $2,500, criminal damage to property over […]
Posted inAlbuquerque
July 4th keeps Albuquerque firefighters busy buying illegal fireworks undercover, brush fires and a body in the Bosque
The Paper. — The Independence Day holiday always keeps Albuquerque firefighters on their toes. Last year, the city’s Fire and Rescue Department spent the days before the holiday responding to a house explosion linked to a large illegal fireworks stash that killed a homeowner and injured two others in the Northeast Heights. This year, they […]
Posted inSandoval County
Sandoval County takes over Cuba’s 911 calls
Cuba residents dialing 911 will now get Sandoval County paramedics and firefighters on scene, not a local ambulance crew, after the county took over emergency response for the area July 1. Sandoval County Fire and Rescue (SCFR) confirmed the change covers the Village of Cuba and northwestern Sandoval County, including parts of the Navajo Nation […]
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety
Governor, AG accuse DEA of letting fentanyl flood NM streets, demand investigation
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. New Mexico’s overdose crisis just got a new villain, according to the governor: the federal agency that’s supposed to be fighting it. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says reporting from the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal revealed the Drug Enforcement Administration knowingly let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills reach New […]
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety
Top New Mexico Republican official charged in fatal hit and run, months after being charged with street racing and speeding
Investigators in Doña Ana County used traffic cameras, GPS and old fashioned detective work to track down the vehicle and driver witnesses photographed leaving the scene of a deadly midday hit-and-run earlier this week. The investigation led them to the door of Kimberly Skaggs, 54, a high-profile New Mexico Republican Party official who was already […]