SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has denied repeated requests by federal immigration authorities for direct access to an employment-records database, the state’s top labor official said Thursday. State Workforce Solutions Department Secretary Bill McCamley said he twice notified officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement this month that the state won’t provide direct access to an unemployment database with …

New Mexico city rejects federal border security grant LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico city has rejected a grant of more than $48,000 that supports cooperation between local law enforcement and federal agents on security efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Las Cruces City Council voted Monday against participation in the federal program known as Operation Stonegarden, citing …

New Mexico chile plant selected to be grown in space ESPAÑOLA, N.M. (AP) — It’ll be one giant leap for chile-kind. A hybrid version of a New Mexico chile plant has been selected to be grown in space as part of a NASA experiment. The chile, from Española, New Mexico, is tentatively scheduled to be launched to the International Space …

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for the Trump administration to tap billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico. The court’s five conservative justices gave the administration the greenlight to begin work on four contracts it has awarded using Defense Department money. Funding for the projects had been …

Police were searching Thursday night for a man accused of shooting and killing a man Thursday morning on the southeast side of Hobbs. The suspect, Steven A. Salazar, of Hobbs, had been arrested by police earlier this month after he allegedly shot a different man four times. Salazar was also arrested on a drug charge earlier this month, when he …

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico firefighter who was seriously injured earlier this month in a fireworks explosion has died. Roswell Fire Chief Devin Graham announced that Roswell firefighter Jeff Stroble died Sunday in a Lubbock, Texas, hospital while recovering from injuries suffered during a June 5 explosion. He was 46. Robert “Hoby” Bonham of the Roswell Fire Department …

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — One of the five commissioners responsible for overseeing New Mexico’s horse racing industry has been ousted over comments she made regarding changes in the way horses are tested for certain medications. The governor’s office confirmed Friday that Freda McSwane was removed from the Racing Commission earlier this week after she refused a request to resign. McSwane …

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Trump administration will not pursue lethal measures such as euthanasia or selling horses for slaughter to deal with what officials say is an ecological and fiscal crisis caused by too many wild horses on rangelands in the U.S. West, an official said Thursday. U.S. Bureau of Land Management Acting Director Casey Hammond told the Wild …

Recently, we read in disbelief the state headline, “Abortion politics help fuel NM film boom.” The headline is flat-out wrong about the reason behind Hollywood’s presence in our state. The film business is just like any corporate enterprise. While studio executives and film stars may support our state’s social policies, ultimately everything revolves around the bottom line. Hollywood is here …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court has set aside the death penalty for the final two inmates awaiting execution after the state’s 2009 repeal of capital punishment. In a divided opinion on Friday, the state’s highest court concluded that sentences against Timothy Allen and Robert Fry were disproportionate in comparison with comparable murder cases.The cases were …