AZTEC MANAGER
NEW: NM city of Aztec selects city manager
AZTEC, N.M. (AP) — Aztec city commissioners have hired a North Carolina man as city manager after more than six months with the job being vacant.
The commission voted unanimously to appoint Joshua Ray, who has been city manager of Whiteville, N.C., for the past two years.
Commissioners plan to begin contract negotiations as early as next week and hope Ray will be on the job in January.
Ray, a North Carolina native, also was city manager in Biscoe, N.C., from 2003 to 2007.
He was chosen from among five finalists after two days of interviews, a meet-and-greet with the public and a tour of the city.
He succeeds David Velasquez, who resigned as city manager in May.
DAIRY TRANSPORT-LAYOFFS
NEW: 75 people laid off from Portales company
PORTALES, N.M. (AP) — Western Dairy Transport in Portales has laid off about 75 workers.
Western Dairy Transport President David Shelton says the lay offs came Wednesday because the company's contract with Dairy Farmers of America expired and wasn't renewed.
The layoffs included 30 drivers and 45 support personnel.
Shelton says employees involved in local hauling were the only ones affected. Workers involved in hauling around the nation were spared.
Shelton says Dairy Farmers of America milk transportation made up about two-thirds of the company's business in the Portales and Clovis areas.
He says the company has other local accounts and will continue to operate in Portales.
LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS-HELP
NEW: Deadline for federal disaster aid Dec. 10
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Sen. Tom Udall says New Mexico ranchers and livestock producers who suffered from droughts and wildfires in 2008 should apply for federal aid before Dec. 10.
The benefits from the Livestock Forage Disaster Program is available to eligible ranchers in Chaves, Dona Ana, Eddy, Harding, Hidalgo, Grant, Lincoln, Luna, Otero, Sierra and Union counties.
New Mexico Farm Service Agency executive director Salomon Ramirez says recent fires and droughts in these regions caused damage to some producers.
Udall says it's essential to support local producers as the state relies on them for its food security.
Farmers must meet certain eligibility requirements.
The deadline for losses incurred in 2009 is Jan. 30.
THREATENED BIRD
NEW: Feds: prairie bird may warrant endangered status
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal officials say a wide-ranging prairie songbird may warrant protections under the Endangered Species Act.
The Sprague's pipit, which nests on the ground, has seen nearly four-fifths of its population disappear in the last four decades. It breeds in the northern Great Plains and southern Canada and winters from Arizona and Texas to Louisiana, Mississippi and northern Mexico.
In 2008, the environmental group WildEarth Guardians petitioned for the bird to be listed as threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
After an initial review found protections may be warranted, the service announced Wednesday it will conduct a more thorough review before making a final decision.
HP INVESTMENT
Hewlett Packard opens Rio Rancho center
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — Hewlett-Packard Co. has opened a customer service and technical support center in Rio Rancho, making good on a commitment to provide 1,300 jobs that pay at least $40,000 in exchange for more than $20 million in incentives.
Gov. Bill Richardson and HP president and CEO Mark Hurd led a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday in front of the three-story, 218,000-square-foot building as politicians, business leaders and employees of the computer firm waited in the cold.
The governor told the crowd the opening was good news, given that New Mexico and the rest of the nation are grappling with economic uncertainty and high unemployment.
However, the expected economic boost of having HP in New Mexico came with a price. New Mexico invested millions of dollars in the form of tax incentives, job training and capital outlay funds to attract the Fortune 500 company to the state.
Some critics have said the state, which is facing a $650 million budget shortfall, cannot afford to be so generous when trying to attract companies. Richardson and others argued that incentives are what drive economic development and result in jobs.
BABY KILLED
Albuquerque man accused of killing baby arrested
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A 22-year-old Albuquerque man is in custody after allegedly shooting and killing his 9-month-old daughter.
Police say Christopher Rains and the mother of the child -- 18-year-old Ashley Trujillo -- argued over whether she was involved with another man.
The two reportedly got into a heated argument.
Police say Rains allegedly pointed a pistol at the baby's head and pulled the trigger.
Rains then allegedly asked the mother whether her seeing another man was worth it.
Police say Rains then called 911 and was taken into custody when officers arrived at the house.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A father accused of killing his own daughter was attacked during a court appearance yesterday in Albuquerque.
Twenty-two-year-old Christopher Rains is charged with intentional child abuse resulting in death. During his arraignment yesterday, another inmate attacked Rains. Jailers say there were no injuries.
SWINE FLU
NM sees 2 more swine flu deaths this week
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Health Department officials say two more people have died from swine flu, bringing the statewide total this year to 42 deaths.
The latest deaths include a 78-year-old woman from Bernalillo County with chronic medical conditions and a 59-year-old woman from Luna County whose medical history has not yet been determined.
The Health Department says visits to health care providers for flu-like illness did increase slightly over the last week from 4.9 percent to 5.4 percent. The department says flu-like illness is the best indicator of flu activity in the state.
The department has ordered more than 403,000 does of nasal and injectable swine flu vaccine. It is arriving in small amounts and is being distributed to providers and health clinics statewide.
PRAIRIE DOGS
Feds: Prairie dogs not endangered
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Black-tailed prairie dogs have been denied protection under the Endangered Species Act after federal officials said the once-ubiquitous ground squirrels show signs of rebounding from decades of habitat loss, casual shootings and other pressures.
WildEarth Guardians, a New Mexico-based environmental activist group, had petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the animal as threatened or endangered. The group's request was denied Wednesday.
Prairie dogs once ranged over an estimated 50,000 square miles in at least 11 Central and Western states.
That was before poisoning, shootings, the plague and loss of habitat to agriculture wiped out populations across at least 97 percent of their historical habitat.
Federal officials say prairie dogs now occupy about 3,750 square miles within a range that stretches from Montana and North Dakota south to New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. That's up from about 550 square miles in 1961.
