Month: May 2018

A top New Jersey lawmaker is urging all 50 states to reject so-called “integrity fee” payments to professional sports leagues in any sports betting legislation they enact. Democratic state Senate President Steve Sweeney said Wednesday it is “extortion” for the leagues to demand money in return for hosting honest games after the U.S. Supreme Court

A bus full of assembly plant workers was hit by gunfire in the northern Mexico border city of Reynosa on Wednesday, and 13 people were wounded, two of them seriously. The driver told authorities that the bus was in motion when it apparently entered the crossfire between two rival gang factions before 7 a.m. Tamaulipas

A Montana man was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to illegally exporting high-caliber handguns to customers in Australia, Norway and other countries with strict weapons laws. Eric Daniel Doyle shipped 25 to 35 firearms to customers outside the U.S. after arranging the sales over the internet beginning in 2014, prosecutors

A nationwide no-bond warrant has been issued for a wanted sex offender from Las Cruces. Oscar Ignatius Russell, 46, has been charged with failure to appear for arraignment after being indicted by a grand jury. The indictment was for failure to register as a sex offender with the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Department. Russell was

Two incoming leaders at New Mexico State University will earn more under contract terms adopted by regents. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports Chancellor-designate Dan Arvizu will earn $500,000 per year in base pay. Incoming President John Floros will earn $450,000 annually. The total earnings of $950,000 represent a more than 150 percent increase in pay

KGNS in Laredo reports the FBI is investigating an alleged shooting involving Border Patrol agents in the town of Rio Bravo. The station reports a woman is dead and three undocumented immigrants are in custody. In a Facebook live, woman named Martha V. Martinez accused Border Patrol agents of shooting a woman in the head.

President Donald Trump’s top health official said Wednesday that the U.S. and global partners will “take the steps necessary” to try to contain a new Ebola outbreak, asserting that the fight against infectious diseases is one of the administration’s top priorities for the World Health Organization, the U.N. agency taking the lead. Secretary of Health

New Mexico is accusing Texas of mismanaging its share of water from the Rio Grande and failing to plan for drought. The claims were leveled in court documents filed late Tuesday as the states wrangle over management of the river. Texas took its case to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 in response to a

El Paso County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a wanted man who tried to flee from them in Clint on Wednesday. Sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance along the 1500 block of South Darrington Road. Upon arrival, officers tried to make contact with Fernando Montoya, age 35. Montoya ran from deputies into the nearby desert area. Shortly

In the aftermath of recent school shootings, a familiar pattern has played out in the debate over guns. Gun-control advocates push for tougher laws, including universal background checks to prohibiting the sale and possession of AR-style long guns. The National Rifle Association and many Republican leaders insist the root of the problem is not guns

The 171-year-old candy maker known for its chalky Necco Wafers and those little inscribed hearts that are everywhere on Valentine’s Day was sold in bankruptcy court Wednesday. The Ohio-based Spangler Candy Co. had the winning $18.83 million bid for the New England Confectionery Co., or Necco, at a federal bankruptcy auction in Boston. The deal

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott met Wednesday with representatives of a gun-control group and the Texas State Rifle Association for more discussions about school safety after the shooting that killed 10 people near Houston. Abbott, a Republican who has worked to expand gun rights in the state, called for the meetings as he weighs ideas for

The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday released documents detailing widespread allegations of misconduct by U.S. border authorities toward children, including kicking one in the ribs, denying medical attention to a pregnant teen who complained of pain and threatening others with sexual abuse. Its report is based on more than 30,000 pages of government documents

It’s “Stormy Daniels Day” in West Hollywood, California. The mayor and members of the City Council will give the porn actress the key to the city in a ceremony Wednesday afternoon at the adult boutique Chi Chi LaRue’s. Daniels has said she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and has sued to invalidate

Thousands of people in Karachi attended the funeral Wednesday for a 17-year-old Pakistani exchange student who was killed in a mass shooting at a Texas high school. Sabika Sheikh was among 10 students and staff slain Friday at Santa Fe High School near Houston. She was her family’s oldest child and began classes at the

An East Texas minister and his family have been sentenced to federal prison for using hurricane relief funds to pay for personal expenses and fund their Jasper church. Walter Diggles, 66, the former executive director of the Deep East Texas Council of Governments, was sentenced Tuesday to 9 years behind bars. Diggles was also ordered

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected an appeal Wednesday from a 37-year-old Rio Grande Valley man on death row for stabbing and beheading his common-law wife’s three children 15 years ago. John Allen Rubio’s appeals lawyer argued unsuccessfully that Rubio’s attorneys at his 2010 trial in Cameron County were deficient, that the trial court

Christopher H. Meza, 35, of Deming, N.M., made his initial appearance today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., on a criminal complaint charging him with distributing and possessing child pornography. Meza remains in federal custody pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, which have yet to be scheduled. According to the criminal complaint,

Leaders of the notorious Mexican Mafia “gang of gangs” were charged Wednesday with running a government-like operation to control drug trafficking from inside Los Angeles County jails that included ordering violence against those who didn’t obey. The U.S. attorney’s office charged 83 people in sweeping racketeering conspiracies that alleged they ran drugs and carried out

The Bureau of Land Management has temporarily closed a northern New Mexico trail after a hiker died in a fall last week. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the federal agency closed the La Junta Trail in the Wild Rivers Recreation Area near the village of Questa to address possible safety concerns. New Mexico State

Describing gang violence inflicted by MS-13 members in chilling and gruesome detail, President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to make “radical” changes to U.S. aid practices by withholding government assistance from countries whose criminals slip into the United States. “We’re going to work out something where every time somebody comes in from a certain country, we’re

Students at Clint High School participated in an active shooter exercise on Wednesday. The exercise was a joint effort between the Clint School District, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Border Patrol, Office of Emergency Management, Clint Fire Department, Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo Tribal Fire Department, Department of Emergency Management, Life Ambulance and the Border

TRAFFIC ALERT: There is a right lane closure on I-10 East and Sunland Park. The Sunland Park exit ramp is also closed off. There are delays in the area, make sure to take Paisano, Mesa or Transmountain.

The Aloft hotel will open on May 24th with a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 4th. The hotel has 89 rooms and will feature the WXYZ Bar. It is located in the old Bassett Tower. “We’re so ready for it. We’ve been waiting for it and it finally came all together,” says Heidi Poole, General

Forty-three schools in the El Paso Independent School District have been selected as sites for the free Summer Food Service Program. The campuses — 18 elementary schools, 14 middle schools and 11 high schools — will serve free breakfast and lunch to children age 1 to 18. There no eligibility requirements. The summer meal program

A federal judge in New York says President Donald Trump violates the First Amendment by blocking critics on Twitter for political speech. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan issued the written decision Wednesday. In ruling, she said no government official – including the president – is above the law. The case was brought last July

A Central Texas man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after his first trial ended in a mistrial four years ago. The Austin American-Statesman reports that a jury found 38-year-old Crispin Harmel guilty of capital murder Tuesday in the 2009 death of 27-year-old Jessika Kalaher in Cedar Park. Prosecutors

Officials with Carlsbad Caverns National Park announced that the completion of the modernization project for its primary elevators will be delayed until June 15. The project was originally scheduled to be completed by Friday. Since the end of April, contractors Tutor Perini Corp. And ThyssenKrupp have been working 10-hour days, seven days a week to

The Del Valle High School Special Olympics basketball team will be representing the school and the Ysleta District at a state tournament in Arlington, TX this Saturday. A first in school history! The 18 student athletes were celebrated with a special send off parade Tuesday morning. Coach Edgar Ramirez walked the halls of Del Valle

NFL owners unanimously approved a new national anthem policy that requires players to stand for the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner,” but gives players the option to stay in the locker room if that is their preference. The 32-0 vote came at the end of the annual ownership meetings held in Atlanta, ESPN.com reported.