Days before he died, father able to see son 'graduate' from NMSU
Diana Alba Soular/Las Cruces Sun-News |
LAS CRUCES — Twenty-two-year-old Javier Lujan, a lifelong Las Crucen, marched across a New Mexico State University stage on Saturday, becoming the first in his family to graduate with a college degree. It's an occasion he was hoping to share, ...Story, »

New Mexico soldier killed in Afghanistan
| The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A soldier from New Mexico has been killed in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense said Staff Sgt. Israel P. Nuanes of Las Cruces died May 12 of wounds sustained during an enemy attack with an improvised explosive device. Offi ...Story, »

New Mexico pays $22M in credits to 'Avengers'
| The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico shelled out millions in movie tax credits to have a co-starring role in "The Avengers." KRQE-TV (http://bit.ly/IZirew) reports the state Taxation and Revenue Department says the production company behind the superhero ...Story, »

Protesters turn out for PNM shareholders meeting
| The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE — Environmentalists are continuing their push to see that a coal-fired power plant in northwestern New Mexico is closed. About 50 people from various environmental groups turned out Tuesday to protest during Public Service Company ...Story, »

SFCC sues state over stalled higher-ed center
Robert Nott | The New Mexican
Santa Fe Community College's governing board is taking the Martinez administration to court in an effort to pressure it to approve the college's plan to build a new Higher Education Center. On Tuesday, the college's attorneys -- from Freedman Boyd ...Story, »

EPA auditors review how state records costs
Trip Jennings | The New Mexican
Two auditors from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began examining records at several bureaus of the New Mexico Environment Department on Tuesday, state officials confirmed. The federal audit, which is expected to last a week and a half, is ...Story, »

Business-plan competition draws new ideas
Julie Ann Grimm | The New Mexican
What Santa Fe really needs is a late-night vegan food truck. Or a lingerie manufacturing business. Or an easy hydroponic growing system to feed a micro-agriculture revolution. Those are among the ideas presented by area entrepreneurs in a business- ...Story, »

Life's a peach at pueblo orchard
Staci Matlock | The New Mexican
San Ildefonso Pueblo elders, young people and teachers on Tuesday began planting 150 fruit trees in hand-dug holes. With luck, water and some tender care, the apple, peach and apricot trees in the decades to come will provide bountiful fruit and to ...Story, »

Santa Fe jury sets up death-penalty debate on Astorga
| The Associated Press
A Santa Fe jury decided Tuesday that a man convicted of killing a Bernalillo County sheriff's deputy is guilty of aggravated circumstances in the murder, setting up a hearing for a possible death penalty. The guilty decision Tuesday means that the ...Story, »

Board makes last cuts to school budget
Robert Nott | The New Mexican
The Santa Fe school board voted late Tuesday to dip into cash reserves and cut spending on contracts and special-education services to cover holes in an $84.6 million budget for the next school year.  Relying on $2.8 million in cash reserves he ...Story, »

Anaya competent to stand trial, bond denied
Nico Roesler | The New Mexican
Arthur Anaya's lawyer Wednesday didn't challenge a finding that Anaya is mentally competent to stand trial for murder. Authorities say Anaya, 54, shot to death 16-year-old Austin Urban and 51-year-old Theresa Vigil after a rent dispute in January a ...Story, »

County clerk candidate loans $19K to campaign
Phaedra Haywood | The New Mexican
Thanks to a $19,000 loan to her own campaign, Santa Fe County clerk candidate Geraldine Salazar is reporting that she has amassed $20,089 for her campaign so far, about seven times more than her opponents in the June 5 primary election. The latest ...Story, »

Board makes last cuts to school budget

Robert Nott | The New Mexican
By Robert Nott The New Mexican The Santa Fe school board voted late Tuesday to dip into cash reserves and cut spending on contracts and reduce a planned increase in  special-education services to cover holes in an $84.6 million budget for t ...Story, »

Local news in brief, May 16, 2012
| The New Mexican
Mutilated cow found at San Ildefonso San Ildefonso Pueblo tribal police are investigating the mutilated corpse of a cow found late Sunday evening. Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies were the first to respond to a call near El Rancho, according t ...Story, »

Culinary elite battle for Apache honor in 'No Kitchen Required'
Carlos Andres Lopez | The New Mexican
BBC America's newest cooking-competition series, No Kitchen Required, is touted as a cross between Survivor and The Amazing Race -- where chefs are sent to remote areas of the world to compete against one another to create locally inspired dishes -- ...Story, »

Save Earth one drink at a time with the top organic, sustainable and biodynamic wines
Mark C. Johnson | For The New Mexican
I'm a firm believer in "going green" all year -- not just on Earth Day -- and that includes keeping my wine collection stocked with plenty of eco-friendly wines. To borrow a quote from Andrew Jay, my friend who runs the wine program at Encantado Re ...Story, »

Beyond Take Out: Make rumaki and other 1960s appetizers the stars of your 'Mad Men' party
Tantri Wija | For The New Mexican
I miss the 1960s. Or, to be totally accurate, I missed the '60s, by a few decades. By the time I was born, women could wear pants to work, cigarettes would kill you, and the cone bra was a thing of the past. But there's something so appealing about ...Story, »