Category Archives: New Mexico

US judge approves Rust assistant director’s plea deal over fatal shooting

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Dave Halls given six-month suspended sentence after pleading no contest to gun charge as part of agreement with prosecutors

A Santa Fe judge on Friday accepted a plea deal, bringing the first conviction for the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the western movie Rust in New Mexico.

Dave Halls, first assistant director on Rust, pleaded no contest as part of an agreement with prosecutors to the misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon for his role in Hutchins’ death.

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Rust shooting: Baldwin’s attorneys say prosecutors made ‘a basic legal error’

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Attorneys say in court filing that law used to seek five-year term for actor Alec Baldwin was not in force at time of incident

Attorneys defending the actor Alec Baldwin from an involuntary manslaughter charge in the film-set killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins are urging a judge to stop prosecutors from seeking a five-year prison sentence, saying the law authorizing that punishment did not exist when the shooting occurred.

In court documents filed on Friday, lawyers for Baldwin contended that allowing New Mexico state prosecutors to charge the actor under a gun enhancement law would violate a clause in the US constitution that prohibits retroactively changing the legal consequences of actions.

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New Mexico could be first state with official aroma

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The familiar smell of roasted chiles is ‘unique to our state’, says lawmaker pushing to codify fragrance

The sweet smell of green chile roasting on an open flame permeates New Mexico every fall, wafting from roadside stands and grocery store parking lots and inducing mouth-watering visions of culinary wonders.

Now one state lawmaker says it’s time for everyone to wake up and smell the chile.

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Police investigate shootings at New Mexico officials’ homes and offices

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Albuquerque police say houses and workplaces of state and county politicians have been hit by gunfire over the last month

New Mexico authorities are investigating at least five shootings apparently directed at the homes and offices of local elected officials, the Albuquerque police department said on Thursday.

The shootings occurred over approximately the past month and were directed at two county commissioners, two state senators and New Mexico’s new attorney general, according to KQRE News.

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The arrest that shocked the firefighting world – and threatens a vital practice

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A fire chief is under investigation for a prescribed burn gone wrong and stirred up long-simmering tensions over wildfire risk

Hours before Rick Snodgrass was cuffed and loaded into a squad car, he’d called the sheriff himself. The United States Forest Service burn boss had requested the help of local law enforcement in Grant county, Oregon, reporting his crew was being harassed while conducting a controlled burn within the Malheur national forest.

It was the second burn that crews had conducted in the area in two weeks, with flames intended to char around 300 acres. But that warm October afternoon, the treatment did not go according to plan.

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Mystery over US man who lost foot in hit-and-run police say never happened

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New Mexico police say bike-builder Dillen Maurer cut off his foot with a chainsaw and did not suffer amputation in ATV accident

A prominent figure in America’s outdoor and cycling scene has lost a foot in circumstances that remain mysterious, as local police say he cut his foot off with a chainsaw, while he and his spouse maintain the amputation happened during a hit-and-run accident.

The story was detailed in a GoFundMe post by Dillen Maurer’s wife, Jenn Maurer, who recounted how her husband – an established frame-maker at Baphomet Bicycles in New Mexico – lost his foot several inches above the ankle over the Labor Day holiday weekend.

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Torrential rains lash southern US as millions under flood warnings

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Meteorologists issue warnings for more than 13 million people in north-east Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico and Arizona

Millions of Americans are under flood warnings after heavy rain this weekend in a large portion of the south and south-western US.

Government meteorologists issued flood warnings for more than 13 million people after torrent rainfall created life-threatening conditions in a region including north-east Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and New Mexico.

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New Mexico police detain primary suspect in killings of four Muslim men

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Albuquerque’s police chief says officers ‘tracked down the vehicle believed to be involved’ in slayings over last nine months

Albuquerque police have detained a man as the primary suspect in the killings of four Muslim men in New Mexico’s largest city.

The city’s police chief on Tuesday announced the update on Twitter. Chief Harold Medina said officers had found the vehicle that investigators believe was involved in the killings over the last nine months.

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Albuquerque Muslim community in fear after killings of three men in 10 days

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Police in New Mexico have warned that deaths of local Muslim men, including one last year, may be linked

Three Muslim men have been killed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a span of just 10 days, stoking fear in one of America’s smallest Muslim communities as police have warned the deaths may be linked.

The killings also followed the November 2021 killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, another Muslim man, which local advocates and law enforcement officials believe could also be linked to the more recent attacks.

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New Mexico: several arrested after SUV drives into Native American parade

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Vehicle drove against direction of parade in Gallup, to celebrate the town’s 100th annual inter-tribal ceremony

Police have arrested several people who were in a large SUV that drove through a Native American celebration in New Mexico, causing multiple injuries along a parade route crowded with families. Two local police officers were among those hurt.

The Navajo Nation president, Jonathan Nez, and his family were among those almost hit as a large car drove barreled through.

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Ancient sculptures found in storage box finally returned to Mexico

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Consulate accepts a dozen small artworks amid worldwide movement to repatriate Indigenous items

Small, ancient sculptures that have been gathering dust in an Albuquerque storage box are returning home to Mexico, where they are intertwined with the identity of Indigenous communities.

The Albuquerque Museum Foundation celebrated the repatriation of a dozen sculptures in a ceremony on Wednesday. The local consulate of Mexico accepted Olmec greenstone sculptures, a figure from the city of Zacatecas, bowls that were buried with tombs and other clay figurines that date back thousands of years.

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Man with methamphetamine in system was driving truck that killed US college golf team

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NTSB report corrects initial statement that son, 13, was driving truck that hit van, leaving six golfers and their coach dead

Seven members of a New Mexico college golf team were killed when a pickup truck driver with methamphetamine in his bloodstream hit their van head-on in Texas earlier this year, a preliminary report from federal investigators revealed on Thursday.

The report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also corrected its initial statement that the driver’s 13-year-old son was driving the truck at the time of the fiery 15 March collision that left a total of nine people dead.

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US Forest Service admits ‘multiple miscalculations’ caused New Mexico fire

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In an 80-page review, the agency states missteps by its employees in setting prescribed burns led to explosive wildfire

Employees with the US Forest Service made multiple miscalculations, used inaccurate models and underestimated how dry conditions were in the south-west, causing a planned burn to reduce the threat of wildfires to explode into the largest blaze in New Mexico’s recorded history, the agency said on Tuesday.

The agency quietly posted an 80-page review that details the planning missteps and the conditions on the ground as crews ignited the prescribed fire in early April. The report states officials who planned the operation underestimated the amount of timber and vegetation that was available to fuel the flames, the exceptional dry conditions and the rural villages and water supplies that would be threatened if things went awry.

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Biden faces anger over huge New Mexico wildfire sparked by federal burns

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President visits state beset by Hermits Peak Calif Canyon fire, result of two accidental fires that merged

Joe Biden landed in New Mexico on Saturday amid anger and frustration from wildfire survivors as he visited the state to review efforts to fight its biggest blaze in recorded history – which was started by federal officials.

Driven by drought and wind, the fire has destroyed hundreds of homes in mountains north-east of Santa Fe since two controlled burns by the US Forest Service went out of control in April.

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Critical fire condition warnings issued across US south-west

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Predicted wind gusts could cause fire to jump containment lines as crews in New Mexico try to stop growth of US’s biggest wildfire

Warnings of critical fire conditions are peppered across much of the US south-west this weekend, as crews in northern New Mexico worked to stop the growth of the nation’s largest active wildfire.

Two fires that merged to create the largest wildfire in New Mexico history have both been traced to planned burns set by federal forest managers as preventative measures, federal investigators have announced.

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5,000 firefighters tackle wildfires across US south-west

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High winds have hampered operations as crews fight blazes in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico

More than 5,000 firefighters have battled multiple wildland blazes in dry, windy weather across the south-west, including a fire that has destroyed dozens of structures in west Texas and another picking up steam again in New Mexico.

Evacuation orders remained in place on Thursday for residents near the wildfires in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. High winds prevented officials from sending aircraft to drop retardant or water in many places.

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‘Everything was orange’: US wildfires burning at furious pace early this year

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Wind-driven flames tearing through dry vegetation exacerbated by the climate crisis in California and New Mexico

Extreme conditions have fueled an explosive start to what’s expected to be yet another intense season of big blazes, with months to go before wildfire threats typically peak across the west.

Wildfires have charred close to 1.3m acres nationwide this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), outpacing the 10-year average for this time of year by more than 71%. Predictions for the rest of the spring do not bode well for the west, with the drought and warmer weather brought on by the climate crisis worsening wildfire danger.

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New Mexico wildfire rampages on as fresh blaze engulfs California mansions

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Challenging weather hampers firefighting in New Mexico, while in California, wealthy coastal enclave goes up in flames

Extreme fire conditions are continuing to fuel a massive wildfire in northern New Mexico, making it difficult for crews to contain the largest blaze in the US, which grew to nearly 260,000 acres acres on Thursday.

The continued destruction came as a smaller fire broke out in California, destroying more than 20 homes, many of them multimillion-dollar mansions, in the coastal community of Laguna Niguel.

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New Mexico wildfire spreading north toward mountain resort towns near Taos

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Two more days of high winds and very dry conditions expected as fire warnings issued across much of the western US

Many houses near America’s largest wildfire survived the latest barrage of howling winds and erratic flames but New Mexico’s governor said on Tuesday the risk of more destruction is high and that the long-term costs of recovering from the huge blaze will soar.

Two more days of strong winds and dangerously bone-dry conditions are in the forecast before some relief is expected on Friday.

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Potentially historic winds forecast as firefighters battle New Mexico wildfire

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Planes and helicopters used as hundreds work feverishly to contain largest fire burning in US


Extreme wind conditions described as potentially historic were forecast for New Mexico on Saturday and for the next several days as hundreds of firefighters and a fleet of airplanes and helicopters worked feverishly to bolster lines around the largest fire burning in the US.

Many families already have been left homeless and thousands of residents have evacuated due to flames that have charred large swaths of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in north-eastern New Mexico.

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