Public Safety

FBI: Zuni Woman Pleads Guilty To Involuntary Manslaughter

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — A Zuni woman pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after her 2-month-old daughter died from asphyxiation.

According to court documents, on the night of Jan. 25, 2025, Miranda Cachini, 27, an enrolled member of the Zuni Pueblo, consumed alcoholic beverages and fell asleep while breastfeeding her 2-month-old daughter in bed. During the night, Cachini rolled over on top of the baby, causing her to pass away by asphyxiation.

Cachini pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and faces up to eight years in prison at sentencing.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Read More

Community Day And Water Safety Fair Launches At Storrie Lake State Park

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Storrie Lake State Park, north of Las Vegas, NM, photographed facing northwest in 2023. Courtesy photo

NMSP News:

LAS VEGAS — Families are invited to Storrie Lake State Park May 17 for the first-ever Community Day and Water Safety Fair featuring hands-on safety activities, demonstrations and outdoor fun for all ages.  

The event helps promote National Safe Boating Week, May 16-22, the official launch of the 2026 Safe Boating Campaign. This yearlong campaign promotes the value of voluntary, consistent life jacket wear by recreational boaters.  

Highlights include fire and police truck Read More

OSI Underscores Importance Of Home Hardening, IBHS Standards During Wildfire Awareness Month

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NMOSI News:

SANTA FE — As part of its Wildfire Awareness Month news release series throughout the month of May, the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance (OSI) is reminding New Mexico residents that the Wildfire Prepared Home program is an important resource to not only protect homes and businesses against wildfire, but also provides an avenue to lower insurance rates.

The program, developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), gives residents the opportunity to receive a certificate for taking steps to mitigate their home and property against wildfire. Read More

FBI: Shiprock Man Sentenced For Unprovoked Assault

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — A Shiprock man who stabbed an individual three times in the back without provocation was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court documents, April 19, 2025, Matthew David Charley, 30, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, approached John Doe and his friends near a roadside area in Shiprock and introduced himself. After John Doe’s friends briefly left the area, Charley remained with John Doe, who had no prior interaction with him and did not provoke him.

As John Doe began walking away to meet his returning friends, Read More

New Mexico Supreme Court Resolves Dispute Over Utility’s Purchase Of Power From Nuclear Plant

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COURT News:

SANTA FE — The New Mexico Supreme Court today affirmed regulatory decisions that allowed a utility company to charge customers in southern New Mexico for electricity it obtained from a nuclear power plant during a severe winter storm in 2021.

In a unanimous opinion, the Court rejected a challenge by the city of Las Cruces to New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) orders permitting about $5.7 million in costs to be passed along to customers of El Paso Electric Company (EPE).

“The Commission’s final orders established the requisite ‘rational connection between the facts found Read More

DEA: Heightened Threat—Fentanyl Mixed With Emerging Synthetic Drugs

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DEA News:

The United States continues to face an unprecedented and evolving drug threat driven by illicit fentanyl, which is increasingly mixed with a dangerous array of synthetic substances emerging in the illicit market. These combinations are making an already deadly drug supply even more unpredictable and lethal.

Law enforcement and public health officials are seeing fentanyl combined with highly potent substances such as xylazine, nitazenes, cychlorphine, and medetomidine. Many of these substances are not approved for human use and are often undetectable to the user.

Xylazine Read More

Law Students To Serve As Summer Externs For Judges In Rural Judicial Districts

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Students from the University of New Mexico School of Law will serve as rural justice externs in state courts this summer. From left to right, with the judicial district where they will be based: Bradley “Liam” William Burnside, 7th Judicial District; Loren Vigil, 11th Judicial District; Andres Grano, 4th Judicial District; Darren Malanik, 8th Judicial District; A. Rafael Romero-Salas, 6th Judicial District; Andrew Kessel, 11th Judicial District; Alyssa Cruz, 9th Judicial District; Jasmine Jaramillo, 4th Judicial District; Glenna Leffler, 7th Judicial District; Stephanie Read More

Forestry Division: Burn Bans & Fire Restrictions, Explained

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Fire restrictions sign posted at a campground. Photo courtesy/U.S. Forest Service

NMFD News:

When the weather gets warm, we all want to get outside and build a backyard bonfire, take an off-roading excursion or burn old yard debris. But which of those activities are allowed and where? Let’s talk fire restrictions.

Risky business

When fuels have dried out due to continued heat and winds, fire restrictions become preventative measures that remind the public, “It’s windy, and there’s a ton of dry grass; it’s too risky to have a campfire right now.”

Restrictions can come from county, state Read More

DPU Investigates Root Cause Of Townsite Power Outage

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COUNTY News:

A power outage that impacted the whole townsite of Los Alamos in the evening hours of Friday, May 8, started at 9:32 p.m. with a high-magnitude fault (greater than 5000 amps) on both transformers that feed the townsite from the electric substation on Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) property.

While any interruption of electric service experienced on LANL property was brief, the townsite outage spanned the townsite from the far east ends of North and Barranca mesas, west toward the outer edge of the Quemazon subdivision, and then east again to the commercial and county buildings Read More

Los Alamos Police Department Invites Community To Annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony Friday May 15

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LAPD will host its annual memorial ceremony on Friday as part of National Police Week. Courtesy photo

LAPD News:

The Los Alamos Police Department (LAPD) invites the community to attend its annual memorial ceremony at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 15, as part of National Police Week. The ceremony will take place in the north parking lot of the Los Alamos Justice Center, at 2500 Trinity Drive.

“Please join us as we remember the fallen, support their families, and reaffirm the bond between our community and those who serve it,” Deputy Chief James Rodriguez said in extending the invitation to the community. Read More