Police

McQuiston: How Insurance Decides Who’s At Fault

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By ALLEN MCQUISTON
Jemez Insurance Agency
Serving Los Alamos Since 1963

After a car accident, most people assume there’s going to be a clear answer. Someone ran the red light. Someone rear-ended someone. Someone was texting. Someone wasn’t paying attention.

But when insurance gets involved, the question isn’t just what happened. It’s who can be proven responsible, and how much.

And that process is more structured—and more frustrating—than most people realize.

First, “fault” is not a feeling. It’s a legal decision. Insurance companies don’t decide fault based on who seems nicer, who’s

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FBI: Men Sentenced For Kidnapping, Human Smuggling Scheme

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — Two Guatemalan nationals were sentenced to prison for orchestrating a ransom scheme in which they held 11 undocumented immigrants captive and extorted their families under threats of violence and cartel retaliation.

There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court records, the FBI received a kidnapping complaint on March 1, 2025, alleging that the family of an undocumented immigrant was being extorted for ransom under threats of violence and cartel involvement. Agents traced the ransom calls to a residence in southwest Albuquerque and executed a search Read More

FBI: Farmington Man Charged For Fentanyl Distribution, Firearms Offenses

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — A Farmington man is facing federal charges for suspected federal drug trafficking and firearms violations stemming from a traffic stop. 

According to court documents, Jan. 26, 2026, Stevie Anthony Lovato, 39, was stopped while driving on U.S. Highway 550 with two other individuals in the vehicle and arrested on an active felony warrant. During the arrest, officers recovered a 9mm hollow point round, approximately 1.34 grams of methamphetamine, and two cellphones from his person. A subsequent search of the vehicle, conducted pursuant to a warrant, resulted in the Read More

FBI: Shiprock Man Pleads Guilty To Violent Assault

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — A Shiprock man pleaded guilty in federal court to a violent assault in which he stabbed a victim three times in the back without provocation.

According to court documents, April 19, 2025, Matthew David Charley, 30, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, stabbed John Doe three times in the back without provocation, causing serious injury.

Charley pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon. At sentencing, Charley faces up to 10 years in prison.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Read More

$387 Million Heinrich Secured For New Mexico In FY26 Funding Signed into Law, While Renewing Call For DHS Funding to Include Commonsense Reforms 

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U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich

From the Office of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich:

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, released the following statement announcing that $387 million he secured for New Mexico in Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) appropriations funding is now law, including Congressionally Directed Spending for over 100 local projects.

Additionally, Heinrich announced that a package of health care legislation and his repeal of the Read More

Legislative Roundup: 16 Days Left In Session

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Jessica Leija tears up a little as she talks about her son, Enrique Leija, who was murdered in 2021, during a Remembrance Memorial for Homicide Survivors hosted by New Mexico Crusaders for Justice in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. Leija was one of many who attended the memorial to speak of their deceased loved ones and try to persuade policymakers to pass tougher laws against violent offenders. Jim Weber/The New Mexican

The Santa Fe New Mexican:

Getting cheesy: Senators spent 20 minutes on the floor Tuesday afternoon discussing their connections to Southwest Cheese — a Clovis Read More

County Employee Charged In Death Of Taos Man

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Staff Report

Los Alamos County Facilities Manager Vicente Martinez, date of birth (DOB) 1980, has been charged with five criminal counts in an incident in Ranchos De Taos that resulted in great bodily injury to Adelio Issac Fernandez, DOB 1970, and the death of his brother Abraham Fernandez, DOB 1972.

Martinez is facing the following:

  • Count #1 – Murder in the 1st degree (willful and deliberate);
  • Count #2 – Aggravated battery (use of a deadly weapon);
  • Count #3 – Aggravated battery (use of a deadly weapon);
  • Count #4 – Aggravated assault (use of a deadly weapon); and
  • Count #5 – Aggravated assault (use
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Dannemann: Immigrant Prisons Are Immoral

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By Merilee Dannemann
Triple Spaced Again
© 2026 by Merilee Dannemann

Some things simply should not be done by a for profit business. It’s inconsistent. It’s illogical.

One of those things is running a prison. If you are in business for profit, your job is making money for the owners of the business. If you are running a prison, the people you work with are not customers – they are prisoners. So it is only logical that you will save money by providing no more service than you have to. Another way of saying that is that you will do whatever you can get away with. If that means providing spoiled food or no food Read More

Only Bail Proposal Of Session Shot Down In ‘Kill Committee’

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A view of the Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo

By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

A proposal to overhaul pretrial release in New Mexico—the only such measure introduced so far in the 30-day session, despite it being a much-discussed topic—is being held captive in committee.

The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, known as the “kill committee” due to its reputation for voting down Republican bills, tabled a proposed constitutional amendment Thursday to ask voters whether judges should be given more leeway in deciding if a criminal defendant needs to be held behind bars. Read More