Courts

Court Grants EPA Delay In Smog Standards Battle

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EPA News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― A federal court granted a request from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to delay court proceedings over the more protective 2015 smog standards.
 
The agency had requested the delay to give it additional time to review those standards. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted the EPA’s request in a summary order.
 
Attorneys for public health and environmental organizations think the delay is likely an indication that the federal government will seek to stop defending or
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Gonzales Faces Judge In Apartment Explosion Case

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The bathroom where the explosion from a marijuana wax process occurred in May 2016 at the Caballo Peak Apartments on Canyon Road. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
 
Scene from a training session on the dangers involved in the marijuana waxing process for first responders, following last year’s apartment explosion. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
 
By MAIRE O’NEILL
Los Alamos Daily Post
 

Joseph Gonzales, accused of causing an explosion at an apartment on Canyon Road in Los Alamos in May 2016 is slated for his preliminary hearing May 4 in Magistrate Court.

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Police Have Suspect Stephanie Garcia In Custody

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Stephanie Garcia

 

By MAIRE O’NeILL
Los Alamos Daily Post

A second suspect involved in a March 9 shoplifting incident that ended with a local man being struck by a vehicle outside Bealls Department Store in Mari Mac Shopping Center is now in custody at the Los Alamos Detention Center.

Los Alamos Police Cmdr. Preston Ballew confirmed this morning that Stephanie Garcia, 31, of Espanola, was picked up Tuesday night in Santa Fe. LAPD Det. Joseph Robinson obtained a statewide arrest warrant March 16 for Garcia after tips from the public and assistance from Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Read More

Albuquerque Man Sentenced To Prison For Robbing Two Fast-Food Restaurants And Brandishing A Firearm

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FBI News:
 
ALBUQUERQUE ― Sheldon Harris, 28, of Albuquerque was sentenced in federal court to 114 months in prison for violating the Hobbs Act by robbing two Albuquerque-area fast food restaurants and brandishing a firearm during the robberies.
 
Harris will be on supervised release for two years following his prison sentence. Harris also was ordered to pay restitution to the fast food restaurants.
 
Harris was arrested April 20, 2016 on a 10-count indictment charging him with: robbing Albuquerque-area Subway restaurants on Aug. 22, 2015, Sept. 6, 2015, Sept. 8, 2016,
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Couple Nets $20K After Suing County For Millions

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Assistant District Attorney Kent Wahlquist, right, speaks with Juan M. Gonzales following his wife’s hearing last month in Magistrate Court in Los Alamos. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
 
By MAIRE O’NEILL
Los Alamos Daily Post

Former Los Alamos residents Juan M. Gonzales and his wife Briana Dimick-Gonzales have received $20,000 from Los Alamos County in settlement of two lawsuits. The law suits were filed in October and December of 2015 in U.S. District Court and alleged civil rights violations.  

According to the settlement agreements, signed Read More

AG Balderas Announces Indictments On Taos County Sheriff’s Deputy For Medicaid Fraud, Falsification Of Documents & Perjury

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AG News:
 
TAOS ― Attorney General Hector Balderas has announced that a Taos County grand jury returned indictments on Ricky Romero for one count of Medicaid fraud, 10 counts of falsification of documents and 10 counts of perjury. The Office of the Attorney General is focused on preparing the case for trial.
 
“The Office of the Attorney General will continue to aggressively combat corruption and fraud resulting in the depletion of critical Medicaid funds in New Mexico,” Balderas said.
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Local Woman Charged In Dog Death Case

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The two dogs suspected of killing a small dog last week on Acoma Lane. Courtesy/LAPD
 
By MAIRE O’NEILL
Los Alamos Daily Post

A White Rock woman has been charged in Los Alamos Magistrate Court with two counts of keeping an animal known to be vicious and likely to attack human beings. The charges are in connection with the death last week of a small Bichon Frise dog at an Acoma Lane home.

Leslie Sherman contacted Los Alamos County Animal Shelter Manager Victoria Murphy Monday to notify her that the dogs in a photo published in the Los Alamos Daily Post were hers.

The statement of probable cause Read More

Los Alamos Police Blotter: March 29-April 3, 2017

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LAPD News:

The following information is provided by the Los Alamos Police Department. Neither arrests nor charges indicate a conviction, and neither means that a person is guilty of the charges against them.

RACHEL ANN WEISS
March 29/Rachel Ann Weiss, 26, of White Rock was arrested on a District Court warrant.

 

 

 

MATTHEW HUDGINS
March 29/Matthew Hudgins, 30, of Los Alamos was arrested on a charge of battery against a household member.

 

 

 

ANDREW M. CHAVEZ
March 30/Andrew M. Chavez, 25, of Espanola was arrested on a Magistrate Court warrant.

 

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Judge Sentences Richard Atencio

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Richard Atencio, left, was sentenced Monday in District Court. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

 

By MAIRE O’NEILL
Los Alamos Daily Post

Under the terms of a plea bargain in the First Judicial District Court Monday, Richard Atencio pleaded no contest to charges of larceny and attempting to tamper with evidence in connection with a Los Alamos National Laboratory property theft case from 2015.

Atencio was accused of stealing lab property valued at more than $2,500 and less than $20,000. Judge T. Glenn Ellington handed Atencio a 364-day suspended sentence for each charge with each Read More

Legislative Review: A Post-Legislative Series – Part 1

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By STEPHANIE GARCIA RICHARD
Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Sandoval, Rio Arriba

It always amazes me when I raise my head up for a breath of fresh air after a legislative session to see what varying impressions of the legislature there are in the constituency I represent.  

I had an opportunity to sit down with a man from White Rock at Pig and Fig last weekend for an informed chat about education and economic development. Though he was well-versed on state government, he hadn’t realized that due to falling revenues at the state level, school budgets had already been cut TWICE, in the same school Read More