New Mexico
Massive ‘haboob’ dust storm leaves drivers stranded across Texas and New Mexico
A massive dust storm buried parts of New Mexico and Texas in airborne smut Monday morning, shutting down highways and leaving nearly 900,000 residents trapped in a potentially deadly cloud.
The dust storm — a particularly fierce variety known as a “haboob” — was miles wide and thousands of feet tall, carried along the southern border by whipping winds that kicked up desert dust and created near zero-visibility conditions, according to the National Weather Service.
That agency issued blowing dust advisories for counties in southern New Mexico and Texas until at least Monday night and warned of wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour in some areas.
Officials closed parts of I-10, I-25, and other highways, and the visibility around El Paso International Airport dropped to just 1/4 mile, reported CBS 4 meteorologist Evan O’Reagan, who posted videos to X of opaque walls of dust taken by unlucky motorists.
Federal officials also issued red flag fire warnings for counties in the haboob’s path as strong winds and low humidity made the desert into a tinderbox for wildfires.
The dust — which could linger in the air for days — prompted officials in Albuquerque to issue an emergency health alert, urging anyone with respiratory issues to stay indoors, KQRE reported.
Haboobs can occur anywhere in the U.S. but are most common in the Southwest. They are particularly dangerous for people with respiratory conditions and highway drivers, who often have no way to escape the storm by the time they spot it looming on the horizon.
“Blinding, choking dust can quickly reduce visibility, causing accidents that may involve chain collisions, creating massive pileups,” the National Weather Service warns.
Rather than try to out-drive a haboob, experts advise drivers to pull off the road, shut off their car lights, and wait for the storm to pass.
New Mexico
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.
“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.”
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.
New Mexico
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.
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.
“We recognized during the planning process that we would need to have consideration and plans to protect the genetic integrity of the Mexican wolf recovery program, while also establishing a gray wolf population in Colorado,” said CPW’s Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell, according to the release.
New Mexico
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.
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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