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New Mexico high school champs advance to National History Day national contest

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New Mexico high school champs advance to National History Day national contest


A group of four sophomores from the Albuquerque School of Excellence did a project focused on a secret biological and chemical warfare research unit that operated in Japan during World War II. The students prepared a documentary for the national contest they’re now advancing to.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — How much do you know about history? If you think you know a lot, there’s a group of New Mexico students who have proven they can challenge you.

A group of four sophomores at Albuquerque School of Excellence recently won a state title in the National History Day competition. The competition involves historical research and making a documentary on a topic. Their topic is a secret biological and chemical warfare research unit that was secretly operating in Japan during World War II.

“I feel like that’s really important to us, not just having a competitive topic, but also having a topic that’s really serious and that we can bring light to to other people that aren’t commonly educated on it,” said Smriti Monger, a team member.

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Their documentary, “The Hidden Atrocities of Unit 731: Denial, Duty, and the Right to Justice“, bested 11 other documentaries to place first in the Senior Documentary competition at New Mexico National History Day. Their hard work earned them the state title and a trip to nationals.

“It wasn’t easy making the documentary. Everyday for three months, all four of us spent 5-10 hours daily researching Unit 731, sourcing videos and photos, writing the film script, recording the narration and editing the film. To better understand the complexities of Unit 731, we combed through thousands of pages of archived journals, books, and other primary source materials; attempted to translate material that wasn’t in English; and even submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the U.S. government for previously undisclosed information,” said Nicole Briceno Gabauer, a team member.

Monger, Gabauer, Tam Pham and Masara Algburi will fly out Sunday to the University of Maryland. They will go up against around 100 other documentaries in the national contest.



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New Mexico

Grants cancels Christmas parade due to shootings

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Grants cancels Christmas parade due to shootings


GRANTS, N.M. – The City of Grants is canceling this year’s annual Christmas light parade, citing the safety of the public and their own officers.

Dozens of floats were supposed to roll down Santa Fe Avenue on Saturday night, but Grants police are holding off until next year after three incidents where someone shot at law enforcement officers.

“It was definitely a difficult decision, but due to the incident that took place on December 8, where law enforcement was shot at in the area of Santa Fe Avenue, we made that decision to protect the citizens of Grants,” says Grants Police Chief Maxine Monte.

She says a New Mexico State Police officer was shot at while making a traffic stop. The officer walked away uninjured, but this was too much for the chief.

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“We’ve had three different incidents where law enforcement was shot at. One was May of 2025, the other one was August of 2025, and then the recent event of December 8 of 2025,” says Monte.

It’s not a risk the chief wants to take, and points out people would be standing exactly where the last shooting happened.

“We have a lot of citizens that attend our parade, and our main concern was that they were out in the open in the middle of the night, and in the same area that our latest shooting took place.”

Grant residents will be able to see the floats during the day on Saturday. But even some daylight isn’t convincing some residents.

“I’ll be staying home,” said Amy Brigdon. “There’s too many people in the world that want to see bad things happen to other people. I’m not one of them.”

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Police still don’t have a suspect for this week’s attempted shooting. Anyone with information is asked to get in touch with the Grants Police Department.



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Colorado wolf rereleased in Grand County after crossing into New Mexico

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Colorado wolf rereleased in Grand County after crossing into New Mexico


Colorado Parks and Wildlife rereleased a wolf into Grand County this week after it had traveled into New Mexico, according to a news release.

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish captured gray wolf 2403 and returned the animal to Colorado.

Colorado wildlife officials decided to release the wolf in Grand County yesterday because of the proximity to “an unpaired female gray wolf,” nearby prey populations and distance from livestock, according to the release.

“Gray wolf 2403 has been returned to Colorado and released in a location where it can best contribute to CPW’s efforts to establish a self-sustaining wolf population while concurrently attempting to minimize potential wolf-related livestock conflicts,” said acting director of CPW Laura Clellan, according to the release.

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The wolf was once a member of the Copper Creek pack but departed from it this fall.

A memorandum of understanding between Colorado and Arizona, New Mexico and Utah requires that any gray wolves that leave Colorado and enter those states be returned. That was created in part to maintain the integrity of a Mexican wolf recovery program.



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New Mexico man sentenced to nearly 20 years for distributing meth

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New Mexico man sentenced to nearly 20 years for distributing meth


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A judge sentenced a New Mexico man to nearly 20 years in prison for distributing meth and having guns in his possession to use while doing so.

Court records indicate 43-year-old David Amaya sold meth from a trailer on his parents’ property in Anthony throughout July and August 2024. Agents executed a search warrant Aug. 22 and found 1.18 kilograms of meth, two firearms and ammunition in the trailer and a makeshift bathroom.

Amaya pleaded guilty to possession of meth with intent to distribute it. A judge sentenced him to 235 months in prison.

Once he is out, Amaya will face five years of supervised release.

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The FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office and the Las Cruces Metro Narcotics Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Williams prosecuted it.



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