Sheriff’s office creates team to address safety issues CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — A sheriff’s office in southeastern New Mexico is hiring more deputies to create a team to target traffic safety issues on a major highway and to work animal cruelty cases. The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office is forming a special team of five deputies and …

New Mexico adopts annual sales tax break at small businesses SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has signed a bill that allows tax-free purchase at small businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Martinez on Friday approved a deduction that allows businesses with 10 employees or fewer to leave sales taxes off many items one day a …

WPX Energy sells northwest New Mexico assets to focus on Permian Basin FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — An Oklahoma independent oil and gas company has moved out of northwest New Mexico to concentrate on operations in the Permian Basin and North Dakota. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based WPX Energy Inc. recently announced the sale of the last of its Four Corners assets for …

Farmington protesters want teachers armed, but districts have concerns FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — Protesters gathered at the Farmington school district’s central office in northwest New Mexico to speak out against gun violence and advocate for trained teachers to carry concealed weapons in schools. Holly Gregory, a substance abuse counselor and a substitute teacher for Bloomfield Municipal Schools, organized the recent …

City must pay $700K for lawyer fees in Ten Commandments case FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — A northwest New Mexico community is considering using online fundraising to pay the $700,000 it owes from a lawsuit that stemmed from a dispute over a Ten Commandments monument that was formerly located outside of Bloomfield City Hall. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2017 sided …

State agency plans to increase plugging abandoned wells CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico agency that regulates oil and natural gas development has a plan to start plugging more of the hundreds of abandoned wells located across the state. The state Oil Conservation Division is seeking to plug 41 wells on state land and 19 on private land during …

Early education proposal dies without hearing in Senate Finance Committee By Milan Simonich The New Mexican The proposal to expand early childhood education across New Mexico died quietly Tuesday at the state Capitol, scotched because a vote on the initiative will not be taken in the state Senate Finance Committee. Sen. John Arthur Smith, the Democrat from Deming who chairs …

Should the state tap the $17.5 billion permanent fund for preK? By Robert Nott The New Mexican Early childhood education proponents are proclaiming a big win now that the House of Representatives has approved a measure to pull more funds from the state’s $17.5 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund to pay for prekindergarten programs. But House Joint Resolution 1, as …

Front-end license plates proposed for New Mexico vehicles By Andrew Oxford The New Mexican What do you have on the front of your car? New Mexico is one of 19 states that does not require a front license plate, leaving room for plenty of custom plates bearing the names of automotive dealers, the brands of car makers, the logos of …

Legislative roundup: Rec marijuana, crime The New Mexican Days remaining in session: 13 Recreational marijuana advances: Members of the Senate Rules Committee voted 4-3 Friday for a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana. That decision keeps the measure alive, but it has little chance of making the November ballot. Even the amendment’s sponsor, Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, …