New Mexico election official seeks same-day registration By MORGAN LEE, Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver will urge state lawmakers to expand automated voter registration at state agency offices and embrace other initiatives aimed at encouraging voter participation, after record-breaking turnout in the state’s midterm election. The state’s top election and …

(AP) — Candidates for governor of New Mexico are making last-minute appeals for support at polling places and restaurants in Albuquerque. Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham stopped at a coffee house in the Barelas neighborhood Tuesday to eat and shake hands. Campaign spokesman James Hallinan says Lujan Grisham voted in the afternoon along with family members at …

New Mexico candidates clash over Trump caravan criticism By MORGAN LEE and RUSSELL CONTRERAS, Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Republicans and Democratic candidates trying to win over voters as November’s midterm elections draw closer ratcheted up their rhetoric Thursday in support and against President Donald Trump’s scathing criticism about the migrant caravan of Central Americans heading …

Candidates for New Mexico governor clash during debate By MORGAN LEE, Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic gubernatorial contender Michelle Lujan Grisham sought to tie her Republican rival to Trump’s policies, while Congressman Steve Pearce warned against a return to Democratic “corruption and cronyism” of the past. Reps. Lujan Grisham and Pearce faced off Tuesday night in a …

Raging flood waters have destroyed a bridge over a river in Central Texas. Video shows the bloated Llano River overrunning a bridge in Kingsland, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of Austin. The National Weather Service says the river at nearby Llano is expected to crest Tuesday morning at near-record levels near 41 feet (12.5 meters), which is 18 feet …

Border officials alarmed by migrants abandoned in the desert By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Smugglers in recent weeks have been abandoning large groups of Guatemalan and other Central American migrants in Arizona’s harsh cactus-studded Sonoran Desert near the border with Mexico, alarming Border Patrol officials who say the trend is putting hundreds of children at risk. Collectively, …

Netflix to bring new US production hub to New Mexico By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Netflix has chosen New Mexico as the site of a new U.S. production hub and is in final negotiations to buy an existing multimillion-dollar studio complex on the edge of the state’s largest city, government and corporate leaders announced Monday. …

47th Albuquerque balloon fiesta ready for weekend launch By RUSSELL CONTRERAS, Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The 47th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is set to start Saturday and will feature nearly 600 hot air balloons.The event is expected to draw about 1 million visitors to central New Mexico as Albuquerque continues to struggle with crime. According to FBI statistics …

New Mexico spaceport seeks taxpayer support for expansion By MORGAN LEE, Associated press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The CEO of New Mexico’s commercial spacecraft launch facility has stepped up pressure for more taxpayer support as lead tenant Virgin Galactic inches closer to its goal of flying tourists into the lower reaches of space. Spaceport American CEO Dan Hicks said …

Real Peggy Sue, of 1958 Buddy Holly song fame, dies in Texas LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — The Texas woman who inspired the 1958 Buddy Holly song “Peggy Sue” has died at a Lubbock hospital. Peggy Sue Gerron Rackham of Lubbock died Monday at University Medical Center, according to UMC spokesman Eric Finley. She was 78. The family gave the hospital …