NM STORM
NEW: 4,800 customers without power in Santa Fe
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Public Service Company of New Mexico spokesman says 4,800 utility customers are without power Tuesday morning.
PNM's Don Brown says strong winds and ice knocked down power lines.
He says some PNM customers could be without power until 4 p.m. or later.
Brown says extra crews have been called in from Albuquerque and will work to restore power in phases throughout the day.
Brown says the main area where outages occurred runs from Las Campanas in the north to Agua Fria on the south side. It runs from Santa Fe County Road 70-A on the eastern boundary west to Caja del Rio.
Brown says there's also dozens of other small outages across town.
INDIAN MONEY
NEW: US settles royalty dispute with Indian tribes
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it is settling a long-running and contentious lawsuit over royalties owed to American Indians.
Under an agreement announced Tuesday, the Interior Department will distribute $1.4 billion to more than 300,000 tribe members to compensate them for historical accounting claims, and to resolve future claims.
The settlement resolves a 13-year-old dispute in which Indian tribes claim they were swindled out of billions of dollars in oil, gas, grazing, timber and other royalties overseen by the Interior Department since 1887.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the settlement a historic, positive development for Indian country and a major step to reconcile decades of acrimony between Indian tribes and the federal government.
LAS CRUCES-CELL BAN
NEW: Las Cruces council bans cell phones while driving
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — The Las Cruces City Council has voted unanimously to ban the use of cell phones by motorists while driving.
After the 7-0 vote Monday night, it will be against the law to talk, dial or send text and e-mail messages while driving. The ban doesn't include talking on handsfree devices, but it does prohibit dialing.
The law takes effect Feb. 5.
Mayor Ken Miyagishima proposed the ordinance after reading a newspaper story about the dangers of drivers using their cell phones while their vehicles are in motion.
A cell phone ban for motorists was defeated in Las Cruces seven years ago.
City Attorney Fermin Rubio says the new cell phone ban is similar to those already in effect in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
HOBBS SHOOTING
NEW: Hobbs man sentenced to life in prison
HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — A 26-year-old Hobbs man has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder in the January shooting death of a construction worker during a drunken brawl at a dance hall.
Aubrey Savage was handed his sentence Monday by state District Judge William Shoobridge.
Authorities say 28-year-old Yurhonnd DeLoach who was shot five times. Witnesses testified that Savage shot DeLoach in the back while the victim was on the ground.
Defense attorney Jesse Cosby argued at trial that prosecutors couldn't prove Savage fired the fatal shots.
TAX FRAUD
NEW: Roswell man pleads in federal tax case
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — A Roswell insurance agent accused of filing bogus financial documents to the Internal Revenue Service has pleaded guilty in a federal tax investigation.
Prosecutors say 77-year-old William "Bill" Merritt created fake financial documents to pay more than $311,000 in taxes from 1998 through 2000. He also was accused of sending a bogus certified draft worth $154,000 to pay taxes owed in 1999.
As part of a plea agreement, Merritt acknowledged he failed to file federal income tax returns for the years 1998 through 2004. He also admitted the certified drafts he submitted had no value but were designed to appear as legitimate financial instruments.
Sentencing has not been scheduled. Merritt faces up to three years in prison.
Public Defender Thomas Jameson declined comment on Merritt's case.
JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT
NEW: Singleton appointed to NM district court
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Bill Richardson has appointed a Santa Fe attorney to serve on the 1st Judicial District Court bench.
Richardson says Sarah Singleton brings more than 30 years of experience to the bench.
Singleton was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2006 to serve on the Board of Directors for the Legal Services Corporation. LSC is the leading provider of civil legal aid for the poor in the United States.
She is a shareholder at Montgomery & Andrews in Santa Fe and has been an attorney at the firm since 1985. She previously worked at the Singleton law office and in the public defender's office in Santa Fe.
Singleton will replace Judge James A. Hall, who is retiring at the end of December.
DEMING-SEXTING
NEW: Town hall meeting planned in Deming over 'sexting'
DEMING, N.M. (AP) — Deming's mayor and other officials are planning a town hall meeting to discuss "Keeping Kids Safe in a Digital Age."
Mayor Andres Silva said the meeting grew out of discussions from the Mayor's Round-table, a monthly session of invited students and community officials.
Silva said he is concerned with the use of digital devices to transmit messages and pictures called 'sexting.' He said parents, guardians and children may not realize their actions could have serious ramifications.
Sexting is texting of a sexual nature, often initially exchanged between two people and very often forwarded to others. Posting of nude pictures or of someone in various stages of undressing has also spread.
The mayor said they "want to educate youth to what happens when they push send."
COWBOYS STADIUM-COSTS
NEW: Cowboys spent nearly $140 on stadium since opening
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The details of getting Cowboys Stadium up and running total nearly $140 million since it opened in June.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Tuesday reported on its review of invoices on the retractable-roof stadium in Arlington. The most recent city report on construction invoices shows the total spent on the venue since 2004 is $1.09 billion.
The nearly $140 million spent by the team in the past six months paid for contractors, furniture, accessories and event preparation.
Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels says work should wrap up by early 2010.
The Star-Telegram reports Arlington has almost met its cap in contributions, spending $324.4 million of the $325 million in public support approved by voters in 2004.
Two workers were injured last Thursday when they slipped while doing maintenance on the icy stadium roof.
WORKER FURLOUGHS
NM state worker furlough plan revised by governor
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Bill Richardson is revising a schedule for unpaid furloughs for state government workers.
Richardson said Monday that one furlough day will be March 5 rather than Dec. 31. Without the change, three consecutive paychecks of government workers would have been reduced because of furloughs.
The governor has ordered five unpaid furlough days for workers in executive branch agencies because of a state budget shortfall. The furloughs do not apply to public schools and colleges or other branches of government such as the courts.
The governor had planned the furloughs around holidays to allow most agencies to close for four-day weekends.
Under the revised schedule, the furloughs will be Dec. 24, Jan. 15, March 5, April 2 and May 28.
PIPELINE EXPLOSION
Jury rules for gas company in pipeline case
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Jurors have rejected emotional distress claims by firefighters and rescue workers who responded to an August 2000 pipeline explosion near Carlsbad, finding El Paso Natural Gas Co. did not show "intentional or reckless disregard" for their safety.
The verdict issued Saturday followed several weeks of testimony.
Attorneys for the first responders argued the firefighters and rescue workers were entitled to damages from El Paso Natural Gas for what they claimed was a lack of maintenance on a high-pressure gas pipeline that led to the explosion.
A fireball from the explosion killed 12 members of an extended family, including four children, that had been camping along the Pecos River.
The blast left a 20-foot-deep crater 86 by 46 feet in size.
BOMBING RANGE-LAND
Air Force gets approval for NM land gift
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Bill Richardson says the Air Force has received a waiver from defense officials to proceed with a land gift associated with the Melrose Bombing Range in eastern New Mexico.
The waiver from the Office of the Secretary of Defense follows Richardson's commitment of $5 million worth of land to the bombing range to help save Cannon Air Force Base during base realignment and closure proceedings in 2005.
With the land gift, Richardson says the Air Force will be able to expand the bombing range. He says the range is extremely important to the future of Cannon Air Force Base and the communities of Clovis, Portales and Melrose.
The New Mexico Legislature appropriated money during the 2006 session for the acquisition of the land to expand the range.
CRIME SPREE-SENTENCE
NM woman sentenced to 16 years for crime spree
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An Albuquerque woman who was described by a state district judge as a "one woman crime spree" has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The district attorney's office says 33-year-old Melissa Ann Chezem was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to 13 felony counts that included commercial burglary and escape from a community custody program. Police believe Chezem's 2007 crime spree may have affected more than 200 victims.
During the sentencing, prosecutors cited two instances when Chezem entered Albuquerque schools while in session and took car keys and other belongings from classrooms. Chezem then used the keys to steal the cars of school staff.
Chezem was also sentenced to two years of parole and faces two years in a federal prison under an agreement reached with federal prosecutors.
