NEW MEXICO – President Joe Biden can be touring to New Mexico this week within the wake of a number of record-breaking wildfires scorching lots of of hundreds of acres of the state’s forest land this yr.
Biden will meet in Santa Fe Saturday, June 11 on the New Mexico State Emergency Operation Heart with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, first responders and emergency personnel.
New Mexico continues to be battling two of the most important wildfires in its historical past — the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Hearth within the Santa Fe Nationwide Forest and the Black Hearth within the Gila Nationwide Forest. They’re burning over 605,000 acres collectively and are the primary and third largest wildfires within the recorded historical past of the state.
The Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Hearth began out as two separate fires and merged in mid-Might. The Hermits Peak Hearth began because the Las Dispensas prescribed burn within the Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District. Sturdy winds precipitated the fireplace to leap containment traces after which grew exponentially. The Calf Canyon Hearth was traced again to a pile burn holdover from January. The collective fireplace continues to be displaying average fireplace habits, although containment has elevated to 65%.
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Lujan Grisham has been vital of the federal authorities, calling on the Biden Administration to take duty for initiating a pure catastrophe that has destroyed at the very least 330 houses and left a monetary toll within the lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.
The Black Hearth began in mid-Might because of human causes, although the specifics are nonetheless underneath investigation. When this wildfire began, the northern New Mexico fireplace was already reaching historic acreage. Nonetheless, the Black Hearth, in a largely uninhabited a part of the Gila Nationwide Forest, grew at a fair quicker price than the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Hearth.
By the point Biden visits, the Black Hearth will doubtless be the second largest in state’s historical past. Although its progress has slowed, it is potential the Black Hearth could have burned extra acreage than its northern New Mexico counterpart. As of Monday, 49% of the Black Hearth’s perimeter was contained.
Other than these two traditionally massive fires, New Mexico has additionally skilled a number of different notable wildfires.
The McBride and Nogal fires within the Lincoln Nationwide Forest threatened Ruidoso and surrounding communities in mid-April — early for the New Mexico fireplace season. Lots of of houses had been burned and households had been displaced. Group members are nonetheless working to get well from shedding every little thing within the blazes.
Two folks had been reported to have died within the McBride Hearth, making it the one deadly wildfire within the state to this point this yr.
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The Cerro Pelado Hearth began in late April within the Santa Fe Nationwide Forest close to Bandelier Nationwide Monument, Jemez Pueblo and Los Alamos Nationwide Laboratory is now 95% contained. The blaze has burned over 45,000 acres and required evacuations of close by areas.
West of Socorro, within the Cibola Nationwide Forest, the Bear Entice Hearth began in early Might and has burned over 38,000 acres of land and is 98% contained.
Extra lately, the Foster and Cinnamon Fires ignited within the New Mexico bootheel on the finish of Might. They’ve collectively burned over 8,500 acres of land and are contained or almost contained.
The newest wildfire to realize consideration is a small 37-acre fireplace ignited within the Lincoln Nationwide Forest June 3 by a lightning strike. The Cienegita Hearth is barely about 4 miles northwest of the already hard-hit Village of Ruidoso.
Whereas containment percentages could also be rising, this doesn’t imply that the fires are extinguished. Slightly, fireplace crews have parts of the edges contained and underneath management. The state’s fireplace season continues to be underway and whereas the North American monsoon season technically begins in mid-June, New Mexico will doubtless not expertise the precipitation that comes with it till later in the summertime.
Because the wet season approaches, officers are anxious about flash flooding, landslides and harmful ash from burn scars, in response to reporting from the Related Press. Lightning strikes delivered to the realm by thunderstorms additionally could very nicely begin new fires New Mexicans must cope with.
Biden will journey to New Mexico following the Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles from June 8-10.
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Leah Romero is the trending reporter on the Las Cruces Solar-Information and could be reached at 575-418-3442, LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Tru Washington scored 19 points as New Mexico beat Texas Southern 99-68 on Sunday night.
Washington added 10 rebounds and four steals for the Lobos (5-1). Mustapha Amzil scored 18 points, shooting 6 for 15 (2 for 6 from 3-point range) and 4 of 6 from the free-throw line. Filip Borovicanin finished 5 of 6 from the field to finish with 11 points.
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Kavion McClain led the way for the Tigers (0-5) with 15 points and six assists. Jaylen Wysinger added 12 points for Texas Southern. Zaire Hayes finished with 10 points.
New Mexico took the lead with 1:13 remaining in the first half and did not give it up. Washington led their team in scoring with eight points in the first half to help put them up 38-31 at the break. New Mexico extended its lead to 77-48 during the second half, fueled by an 11-0 scoring run. Borovicanin scored a team-high 11 points in the second half as their team closed out the win.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, has reached a $20 million settlement with the family of a grandmother fatally shot by a police officer last year, according to The Associated Press and local media.
Felipe Hernandez, then working for the Las Cruces Police Department, fatally shot Teresa Gomez, 45, in her car in October 2023. Her family filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city, the police chief, and three members of the police force.
The settlement is the city’s largest agreement in a civil lawsuit, according to CNN affiliate KFOX14. The parties reached a settlement on November 7, according to a court filing. CNN has reached out to the city and an attorney representing the Gomez family for comment.
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“This settlement should be understood as a statement of the City’s profound feeling of loss for the death of Gomez and of the City’s condolences to her family,” the city of Las Cruces said in a news release sent Friday, according to AP.
Hernandez, who was fired from the police department months after the shooting, faces a second-degree murder charge, court records show. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin June 2. CNN has reached out to Hernandez’s attorney for comment.
Gomez was sitting in her car when Hernandez accused her and her passenger of trespassing, footage from the officer’s body-worn camera shows. He then shouted commands laced with the F-word at her and threatened to arrest her, “tase” her and make her life “a living hell” if she didn’t comply with his plan to investigate, the footage shows.
After Hernandez approached Gomez on a bicycle as she sat in her car, Gomez told him she had been visiting someone at the address and said she was looking for her misplaced keys, the body-camera footage shows. Gomez and the officer discussed why she and the passenger were parked outside a public housing complex – a place Hernandez said the passenger was not supposed to be. Gomez said multiple times she was unaware of any visitor rules, the video shows.
After Hernandez repeatedly asked Gomez to leave her car, Gomez stood outside it for a while, answering some of the officer’s questions, the video shows. Her passenger was never asked to get out or questioned in a similar way.
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The grandmother eventually found her car keys and, with the officer’s permission, sat back in the driver’s seat, according to the video and the lawsuit.
Half a minute later, she engaged the engine and, with her car door still open, shifted into reverse, pulled back, then put the car into drive, the video shows.
Hernandez shouted “stop!” three times, then fired his gun several times, the video shows.
The lawsuit alleges Gomez presented “no threat of any physical injury to Hernandez or anyone else” and Hernandez “left her to bleed out in her car as he turned away from her gasping body to retrieve his bicycle and flashlight.”
The suit claims Las Cruces “has adopted a de facto policy of indifference to the escalation of encounters between its officers and the public”and it “it allows officers to use deadly force in situations in which there is no threat of great bodily harm or death posed by the subject receiving deadly force.”
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The complaint also alleges city employees disproportionately use excessive force against people of color – like Gomez, who was Hispanic.
Gomez’s sister, Angela Lozano-Gutierrez, previously told CNN the video of her mother’s encounter with Hernandez was “shocking.”
“We may never get the apology we need,” Lozano-Gutierrez said. “We’re just trying to cling to each other, and we just keep telling ourselves: She would want us to continue to live to be happy.”
Texas Southern Tigers (0-4) at New Mexico Lobos (4-1)
Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sunday, 8 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Lobos -23.5; over/under is 155.5
BOTTOM LINE: Texas Southern takes on New Mexico after Duane Posey scored 26 points in Texas Southern’s 97-82 loss to the Samford Bulldogs.
The Lobos are 3-0 on their home court. New Mexico is fourth in the MWC with 40.8 points per game in the paint led by Nelly Junior Joseph averaging 12.0.
Texas Southern finished 16-17 overall with a 6-11 record on the road a season ago. The Tigers allowed opponents to score 71.1 points per game and shot 42.5% from the field last season.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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