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Fire damages UNM facilities
Charlie Shipley | July 4The largest wildfire in New Mexico history continues to burn, forcing evacuations and destroying homes and property, including a UNM facility.
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Wood questions regents’ hire
Kevin Forte | July 4Faculty President Richard Wood called for an internal review of the Board of Regent’s 2010 hire of Director of Internal Audit’s Manu Patel.
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‘Let the one without sin cast the first stone’
Luke Holmen | June 27In Rev. Scott Sharp’s Sunday sermon, he reminded the congregation of F. Chris Garcia’s dedication to the church, his family and his community. Sharp, senior pastor of Central United Methodist Church, where Garcia regularly attended services with his wife, said Garcia was eager to help others and engage in ministry.
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‘Burque pops’ helped recruit talent, police say
Elizabeth Cleary , Chelsea Erven and Luke Holmen | June 27Former UNM President F. Chris Garcia was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center June 23 on charges of promoting prostitution, tampering with evidence and conspiracy, according to Bernalillo County Detention Center records. Garcia, 71, was arrested for his alleged ties to a 1,400-member, multistate online prostitution ring called Southwest Companions.
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‘Companions’ make bail
Chelsea Erven | June 27Former UNM President F. Chris Garcia went before Metropolitan Court Judge Sharon Walton June 24 for a felony first appearance on the charges of promoting prostitution, conspiracy and evidence tampering related to an online prostitution ring know as Southwest Companions.
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Adopt ‘till employees drop
Elizabeth Cleary | June 27In a city where nothing save for the occasional convenience store stays open all night, at the end of last week it was never too late, or too early, to adopt a dog or cat from Animal Humane New Mexico. From June 22-24, Animal Humane NM hosted its 24/7 adoption event, the first event of its kind in New Mexico.
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Fireworks not worth the heat
Hunter Riley | June 27With five wildfires burning in New Mexico, the Albuquerque Fire Department and Albuquerque Police Department are especially concerned about blazes during this year’s Independence Day celebrations.
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Texting while driving: GTFO
June 27On June 16, Gov. Susana Martinez kicked off W82TXT, a new campaign against texting while driving. W82TXT encourages New Mexico residents to take a pledge against distracted driving. “I pledge to never text and drive,” the pledge reads.
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Update: F. Chris Garcia's first court apperance, bond set at $35,000
Staff Report | June 24UPDATE: June 24 at 6:15 p.m. Garcia went before Metropolitan Court Judge Sharon Walton this afternoon for a felony first appearance on the charges of promoting prostitution, conspiracy, and evidence tampering.
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APD: Former UNM President was high-ranking organizer of prostitution ring
Luke Holmen | June 23Former UNM President F. Chris Garcia was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center this morning on charges of promoting prostitution, tampering with evidence and conspiracy, according to Bernalillo County Detention Center records. Garcia, 71, was arrested for his alleged ties to a 1400-member, multistate, online prostitution ring called Southwest Companions.
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Shortage may up standards
Christine Romero | June 20The state’s Higher Education Department is pushing to impose stricter requirements on the Lottery Scholarship to increase student accountability. Only 14 percent of New Mexico students maintain the Lottery Success Scholarship for four years, and the Higher Education Department Director of Financial Aid, Karen Kennedy, said more stringent requirements could change that statistic. “We want to make sure access isn’t restricted for any student, but we also want to make sure New Mexico sees successful outcomes,” she said. Proposed changes include requiring university students to take 15 credit hours per semester instead of 12 and maintain a higher GPA.
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Less unsatisfied than before
Chelsea Erven | June 20A recent survey of UNM faculty and staff showed a slight increase in satisfaction with University administration, but there’s still room for improvement. The number of faculty and staff “dissatisfied” with University governance dropped by almost 6 percent, and UNM President David Schmidly said the change is a step in the right direction. “I am pleased that the survey shows incremental progress has been made, even though there is still a long way to go,” he said in a June 6 email.
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Catron County’s endangered economy chosen over wolves
Chelsea Erven and Victoria Cardenas | June 20On June 12, the New Mexico State Game Commission severed its ties to The Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Program. Residents of Catron County pushed the decision, Glyn Griffin, District 2 Catron County Commissioner said. “Much of the Game Commission’s decision was based on the hardships endured in this county,” she said in a press release. “Our biggest industry, logging, has been taken away by the spotted owl.
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Former Michigan professor to become new Pharmacy dean
June 20Earlier this month, UNM’s College of Pharmacy named Dr. Lynda Welage its new dean. Welage will assume the position in mid-October, and said she hopes to push the College of Pharmacy and its students toward national recognition. “I think numbers of opportunities for students are growing every day,” Welage said.
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Wildfires advance into NM
Luke Holmen | June 13Ash and smoke from wildfires in the east continues to cloud the horizon and turn Albuquerque’s normally blue sky a dull gray. Arizona wildfires spread to western New Mexico June 11, as more than 700 square miles of brush and forest continued to burn largely uncontained in eastern Arizona. Fire officials believe an unattended campfire may have sparked the Wallow fire, the largest burning in the area. The fire has consumed thousands of acres and is expected to cost more than $10 million in fire damage and containment fees. The New Mexico Department of Health issued a warning to residents on Saturday to avoid the outdoors, using swamp coolers and exercising during periods when smoke is visible.
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‘Juárez and El Paso is one community’
Andrew Beale | June 13Nearly 60 people marched Friday from El Paso, across the bridge, and into one of the most dangerous cities in the world to join a several-hundred-strong protest against violence in Ciudad Juárez. Over 3,000 people were killed in Juárez last year, which means it has one of the highest murder rates of any city across the globe, according to CNN.
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Alumnus nominated for Emmy
Alexandra Swanberg | June 13UNM alumnus Mark Kachelmeier was nominated for an award in the 2011 Heartland Emmy Competition for his “Catching Predators” series. His weeklong series aired on KRDO News Channel 13 in Colorado Springs and profiled five convicted sex offenders.
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NCAA praises UNM athletes’ brains
Hunter Riley | June 13Student-athletes typically attract attention for outstanding athletics, but with the release of the NCAA’s 2009-2010 Academic Progress Rate report, all of the attention is on academics.
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LGBTQ advocate wins mtvU award
Chelsea Erven and Alexandra Swanberg | June 6UNM alumnus David Griffith won mtvU’s new “Top of the Class” award for his work with the LGBTQ student resource center.
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Local orchestra survives setbacks
Luke Holmen | June 6The New Mexico Philharmonic seeks to continue the tradition of orchestral music in the state, despite the recent financial failure of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. The NMSO filed Chapter Seven bankruptcy in April, but many of its musicians have reorganized to form the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra. Philharmonic Musicians Representative Carla Lehmeier-Tatum said the failure of the orchestra hurt the local music culture, putting many UNM musicians in difficult financial positions.
