New Mexico
Five Things to Do This Weekend | October 4-6
5 Pick the perfect pumpkin.
Fall Festival at the Mesilla Valley Maze
The Mesilla Valley Maze at Lyles Farms, in Las Cruces, has welcomed families and fall fun seekers since 1999. This weekend marks the beginning of the corn maze and pumpkin picking season with a Fall Festival on Saturday and Sunday. Attendees can look forward to hayrides, a corn eating contest, live music, tours of the corn maze, stick horse races, and more family-friendly activities.
Heirloom Acres Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch
The 10-acre family-friendly corn maze at Heirloom Acres takes about half an hour to complete, but there’s a shorter version called the Fairy Tale Trail if you’re in the mood for something lighter. The Artesia farm also boasts a pumpkin patch filled with pumpkins begging to be carved into Jack-o-lanterns. Visit on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in October.
Balzano Family Farm Pumpkin Patch & Vineyard
Every weekend in October and the first weekend in November, folks can visit the pumpkin patch at Balzano Family Farms, located between Artesia and Carlsbad, to pick a pumpkin straight from the vine. There is a collection of cute farm animals to pet, a pond to fish, and a fairy garden to wander. It’s open Saturdays and Sundays.
Read more: For more things to do, check out our online calendar of events.
New Mexico
EV Charger Rules Draw Outcry From Southeast New Mexico Leaders – Ruidoso News
New Mexico
New lawsuit against APD following DWI deception
Carlos Sandoval Smith is looking for justice for what he says he went through with Albuquerque Police Department’s DWI Unit.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Carlos Sandoval Smith is looking for justice for what he says he went through with Albuquerque Police Department’s DWI Unit.
This centers around the ongoing investigation into several officers accused of working with a local attorney to get DWI cases dismissed for money.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico along with a number of other attorneys have filed a lawsuit on Sandoval-Smith’s behalf.
It claims Sandoval-Smith was falsely arrested and pressured to pay thousands of dollars to have the charges dropped.
“It truly ruined my life,” said Sandoval-Smith.
Sandoval-Smith is talking about what happened on June 25, 2023.
APD officer Joshua Montano pulled him over on the I-25 Frontage Road just north of Central.
A class action lawsuit filed in district court outlines what followed and how Sandoval-Smith claims he became one of the many alleged victims of APD’s DWI unit extortion scheme.
Instead of Montano writing up a ticket, the lawsuit state he unlawfully expanded the scope of the stop by initiating a DWI investigation without suspicion Sandoval-Smith was under the influence.
“Throughout the entire interaction with officer Montano, Mr. Smith was cooperative. He answered his questions, he was honest, and participated in brief field sobriety tests that he passed and was ultimately booked into MDC and taken to jail,” said Taylor Smith, a cooperating attorney of ACLU New Mexico.
KOB 4 spoke with Smith back in February about this case. He’s representing Sandoval-Smith.
It was after Sandoval-Smith was taken downtown, he became aware something wasn’t right. The lawsuit explains Montano removed his lapel camera and moved Sandoval-Smith out of where he could be seen or heard.
It states that’s when Montano told him he had an attorney friend who could make the DWI charge go away.
“At first I was completely confused, I didn’t understand why he was doing this because I knew it was wrong. So I started to put the clues together and realize something is not right.”
Sandoval-Smith went to the office of attorney Thomas Clear III and recorded the conversation with paralegal Ricardo Mendez, who is also named in the lawsuit.
After that meeting, Sandoval-Smith told a public defender what had happened who then talked to the FBI.
Sandoval-Smith’s charges were dropped in January. Meanwhile, Bernalillo County district attorney dismissed hundreds of other cases because of this federal investigation.
The lawsuit also claims APD Chief Medina and city officials knew about the alleged scheme, and did not investigate.
In June 2022, FBI agents reportedly told APD about a different case involving Montano and Clear III with similar extortion allegations.
Six months later, another APD unit also allegedly received a tip about DWI officers.
Albuquerque police released a statement, saying all those claims are false.
A spokesperson says Medina worked closely with the FBI to uncover the DWI scheme, and opened an internal investigation to hold all involved accountable and leave no stone left unturned.
APD continues to work with the FBI and will release more details when they’re allowed.
New Mexico
Mostly dry days ahead for New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Over the next few days, we’re going to be hard pressed for a lot of precipitation due to a high-pressure ridge.
As we get to next Thursday, that pattern may change. For now, we are going to see more record heat and very warm temperatures as we get to Balloon Fiesta.
Wednesday, funny enough, started with much cooler temperatures. That was due to a backdoor cold front that also brought canyon winds.
We’ll see lots of sunshine, warm and dry conditions, less wind and some virga showers in a few places but not many.
Meteorologist Kira Miner shares all the details in her full forecast in the video above.
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