Friday’s Top Stories
- Tourism organizations receive thousands from the New Mexico Tourism Department
- Woman who killed two in drunk driving crash outside Bernalillo sentenced to 9 years
- Bernalillo County adjusts pool hours as school resumes
- Lobos begin training camp with new offensive weapons
- Dulce woman will serve five years in prison for voluntary manslaughter
- Albuquerque plans to make safety changes on this dangerous road
- Excessive heat might have played a role in recent rockfall at Chaco Canyon
- Deming faces 2 lawsuits after city employee raised concerns over reportedly high water bills
- Albuquerque Public Schools students come back to new school year with a new schedule
- Clovis park fire ‘looks like it was intentionally done’
Friday’s Five Facts
[1] Family files lawsuit after Albuquerque man dies when being confronted by AR Deputies – A New Mexico family wants answers after they say Arkansas deputies caused their loved one’s death. They’ve filed a lawsuit claiming Daniel Adrian Barajas was racially profiled by an Arkansas County Sheriff’s Office. 38-year-old Daniel Barajas was a self-employed welding specialist from Albuquerque. His family says he would still be alive today if it weren’t for the actions of Arkansas deputies.
[2] Albuquerque Police Chief meets with police service aides to work to improve program – As more critical work gets piled on the city’s police service aides, APD Chief Harold Medina now says he wants to make sure their voices are being heard. To this day, APD relies on its PSAs to respond to crime and crash scenes and help keep sworn officers on patrol. Medina said some PSAs expressed concerns over job readiness. Chief Medina said he’s hoping to have one of these meetings every quarter as more and more responsibility is put on PSAs.
[3] Extreme heat and limited rain this weekend – Friday morning is dry and mostly sunny across the state. Temperatures are cool in the higher terrain. Today will be a hotter day, with temperatures climbing into the 90s and 100s. Heat advisories will be in effect in southern New Mexico Friday and Saturday, as temperatures will climb between 100 and 110 degrees.
[4] Albuquerque increasing capacity at Gateway Center – Starting next week, the City of Albuquerque said dozens more people experiencing homelessness will be allowed to stay inside the long-promised Gateway Center as another chapter of construction is wrapping up. Officials with Albuquerque’s Family and Community Services department say by next week, it expects to open an additional 50 beds at the Gateway Center, but for the time being, officials say the facility will only house women.
[5] Big changes coming to the Very Large Array in Socorro County – Plans are in the works to bring some major upgrades to the Very Large Array in Socorro County. Made up of 27 large antennas, each weighing 230 tons, the VLA is a radio telescope that helps scientists explore some of life’s most fascinating questions. Plans are underway for what’s called the Next Generation VLA, or ngVLA. The antennas will have a new design, and there will be 263 of them instead of 27.
