Monday’s Top Stories

Monday Five Facts

[1] New Mexico Department of Corrections facing lawsuit from former employee – The New Mexico Department of Corrections is at the center of a lawsuit after a former guard claims he was retaliated against for reporting three employees who had taken narcotics into the Santa Rosa facility. Christopher Hamilton started working at the Santa Rosa Adult Correctional Facility in 2018. Hamilton claims that after reporting the employees for smuggling drugs and phones into the prison, he was punished and eventually terminated. The New Mexico Department of Corrections will not comment on this case but say they investigate all accusations of misconduct.

[2] Crews work to fix Los Lunas Main Street bridge after sinkhole causes weekend closure – The Los Lunas Main Street bridge is open after a large sinkhole shut it down this past weekend. Saturday night, Valencia County Fire officials say two people were walking on the Main Street bridge sidewalk when the ground collapsed underneath their feet. Bystanders and the fire department were able to rescue the two individuals who are said to be okay. After that, crews closed the bridge in both directions due to erosion and repairs. Although the bridge is open, crews will continue to investigate for possible erosion in the coming days.

[3] More showers and storms move across New Mexico Monday – Spotty showers are moving across the state this morning, especially in eastern and southern New Mexico. Some showers will last through the morning commute before even more rain develops this afternoon.

[4] New Mexico native helps create a chart-topping song – A native New Mexican is receiving recognition for his work on a chart-topping country music record. Heath Warren, a 2007 Eldorado graduate helped write and produce “Rock and a Hard Place,” sung by country music artist Bailey Zimmerman. The song broke the record for most weekly radio spins in country music history and just celebrated six weeks at the top of the Billboard County Airplay chart. Warren also has three other songs on Zimmerman’s new album religiously that came out last week.

[5] Las Vegas Animal Care Center helps move mountains to get dog to new home – One northern New Mexico animal shelter is doing everything it can to unite one of its dogs with its new owner. Shelter dog Astro is ready to make his trek to his forever home over 650 plus miles away in Boise, Idaho. Andrea met two-year-old Astro and knew he was the one. Astro has been in the shelter since September so when Andrea said she wanted him, shelter director Beatriz Gallegos knew they wanted to help out to reunite them.