ALBUQUERQUE – Climate change protesters in downtown Albuquerque spoke out against four of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks.

Rallying outside the offices of Democratic Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, protesters called on the two lawmakers to oppose the confirmations of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, former Governor of Texas Rick Perry as head of the Department of Energy and Montana congressman Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

Organized by 350.org, a nonprofit organization focused on cutting greenhouse gas emissions enough to...

The Bureau of Land Management New Mexico State Office will hold its quarterly oil and gas lease sale using the internet-based auction system EnergyNet Jan. 25.

The sale was  originally scheduled for Jan. 18, but has been rescheduled for Jan. 25.  Beginning at 9 am MST, each parcel will have its own unique open bidding period, with the complete bidding process expected to last a total of 3 hours.

The parcels to be considered are comprised of Federals minerals located in northwest New Mexico.  A total of four parcels will be offered containing 842.66 acres – three parcels in Sandoval County totaling 401.16 acres and one parcel in Rio Arriba County that is 441.5 acres.  The Bureau of...

Decker: Investigations in place

Three deputies from the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of internal and external investigations.

McKinley County Attorney Doug Decker did not release the names of the deputies involved in a physical altercation at a house party at an address on or near West Hill Avenue in Gallup Jan. 6.

In explaining the matter, Decker said the incident stems from a Jan. 9 citizen complaint to McKinley County Sheriff Ron Silversmith. The citizen revealed that there was some kind of altercation involving at least one local deputy that sent an unknown young male to an Albuquerque hospital.

Decker did not...

Arrested for aggravated battery

Gallup Police Department officers encountered an unusual situation when they responded to a call at 2025 E. Aztec Ave. Donovan David Mills reportedly broke into the business to stay warm Jan. 9.

But there was something dangerous brewing in the microwave oven on the premises, and it wasn’t coffee.

“Mills began to what officers stated as [making] very strange statements,” the police report compiled by Det. John Yearly states. “Mills was asked what he was going to do with the stuff in the microwave” what was essentially an “improvised explosive device.”

“It appeared that Mills had placed two container[s] with butane in them – one being...