Staff Reports

ALBUQUERQUE — Attorney General Hector Balderas secured the preventative detention of Mario Morales, a man accused of human trafficking, kidnapping, criminal sexual penetration, false imprisonment and more Dec. 14.

The New Mexico Office of the Attorney General successfully extradited Morales, following his arrest in Arizona last month. Following the NMOAG’s preventative detention motion in November, Morales was indicted on more 15 charges, 14 of them felonies.

“Serial offenders who harm New Mexicans need to be behind bars, if they pose a risk to our community,” Balderas said. “We are prepared to seek justice for the family who has been harmed.”

In addition to...

By Cody Begaye

Sun Correspondent




Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., hosted a press call Dec. 13 to discuss the importance of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.

VAWA was enacted in 1994 under then-President Bill Clinton to fund prosecution of violent crimes against women, impose automatic, mandatory restitution on those convicted and allow civil redress in un-prosecuted cases.

The Act also established the Office on Violence Against Women within the Department of Justice.

VAWA was previously reauthorized in 2000, 2005 and 2013 — the most recent expansion added Native Americans and same-sex couples, along with increased protection for victims of sex trafficking.

Heinrich...

Staff Reports

CHURCH ROCK –Navajo Nation President-Elect Jonathan Nez joined officials from New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez’s office, McKinley County and others at the Navajo Tech Innovation Center in Church Rock Dec. 13.

They announced that international nitrile glove manufacturing company Rhino Health LLC, plans to expand their operations and begin production at an existing manufacturing warehouse in Church Rock with the potential of creating up to 350 new jobs.

Rhino Health LLC is a U.S.-based company with a global management team from a leading Korean rubber company known as Jungwoo Rubber & Plastic, which plans to invest more than $49 million into an existing manufacturing...

Part 3 in a three-part series

Despite the tribe’s intentions with the program, Sharron Berry, vice-president of Four Corners Pet Alliance, sees Navajo Nation horses as a valuable, untapped asset to the tribe.

“The horses are a resource that can be trained [and] utilized in tourism,” Berry said. “People would pay a lot of money for [a trained horse.]”

In contrast, untrained horses are less adoptable, and face a greater likelihood of being sent to auction and eventually shipped to Mexico for slaughter.

For instance, Berry said she spent four hours loading a four-year-old horse that wasn’t halter broken onto a trailer. The horse was recently purchased...