AROUND NEW MEXICO

Source: Albuquerque Journal, N.迷你倉M.Sept. 29--Truck driver killed in rollover crashA man was killed Friday night when he lost control of a commercial vehicle and was ejected 45 miles west of Jal, State Police said.Richard Morin, 59, of Olney, Texas, was driving north on County Road 89 when he lost control of the 2006 vehicle. Police said he was not wearing his seat belt in the rollover crash, and he died at the scene.Police said excessive speed was likely a factor in the crash, but alcohol was not.APD Oversight Task Force criticizedAn alliance of black organizations, including the NAACP, is upset that there are no Natives, blacks or Asians on the Albuquerque Police Oversight Task Force."People of color have again been left out and disrespected," said Harold Bailey, NAACP president. "These particular ethnic groups are statistics in many incidents involving police shootings and killings."Bailey said he had sent letters to Councilors Brad Winter and Rey Garduno expressing those concerns and asking for time to present them as an agenda item during an upcoming city council meeting. Winter and Garduno didn't immediately return calls for comment.A representative for Councilor Dan Lewis encouraged Bailey and members of the Alliance to attend the next council meeting on Oct. 9 and address the council during the public comment forum.The City Council in early August adopted a resolution appointing an 11-member task force, which is expected to hold town meetings to advise the council on how to remake the Police Oversight Commission.State wants input into wolf programSANTA FE -- The state Game Commission has decided it wants New Mexico to have a seat at the table when it comes to making decisions about the federal government's efforts to reintroduce Mexican gray wolves to the American Southwest.The commission voted recently to direct the state G文件倉me and Fish Department to sign a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as that agency drafts an environmental impact statement for the wolf program.The vote comes two years after the Game and Fish Department officially pulled out of the program. Now, state Game and Fish Director Jim Lane said the department wants to help in the interpretation of scientific data and influence any decisions that will ultimately affect New Mexicans and the state's wildlife resources.Lane contends the federal agency doesn't have a viable recovery plan for the wolves."Their approach puts stakeholders in a predicament of deciding to participate in a process that lacks defined objectives for wolf recovery, or risk sitting on the sidelines and watching the process unfold without the opportunity to provide input," Lane said in a statement issued Friday.Ex-cop indicted in sex assault casesLAS CRUCES -- A former Las Cruces police detective accused of sexually assaulting two young girls has been indicted in both cases.Prosecutors say Michael Garcia, 37, was indicted Thursday and is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 15.He remains free on a $50,000 secured bond in the first case and a $20,000 secured bond in the second case.Garcia was first arrested Aug. 23 for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl during a student ride-along in his unmarked police car. He was arrested again Sept. 4 for allegedly assaulting another girl who was 10 or 11 years old when the reported offenses occurred between 2004 and 2008.Garcia's lawyer says he doesn't believe his client is guilty.Garcia resigned from the police department on Aug. 27 after 15 years on the force.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) Visit the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) at .abqjournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉