2012-01-18

A visit to the Sonoran Desert after dark



PHOENIX ( AP) – “Everything in the Sonoran Desert either sticks, stings, bites or eats meat. There are quite a few things you don’t want to touch and in the dark it’s harder to discern between safe and scary,” said tour guide Bruce Leadbetter as he geared up to lead a night hike of McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Fountain […]

Agents discover tunnel below Mexican prison



MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexican investigators have found a 40-yard tunnel that inmates chiseled underneath a prison in the northern city of Chihuahua in an apparent effort to escape. State prosecutors’ spokesman Carlos Gonzalez says the 30- inch diameter tunnel was lit and almost finished with just 16 feet left before reaching the desert outside. Gonzalez told The Associated Press […]

Midland man who fled officers fatally shot



MIDLAND, Texas (AP) Investigators say a West Texas man has died after being shot by officers during a three-county chase. Authorities say Earney Lee Maker Jr. of Midland died Sunday at a hospital after a chase through Midland and Ector counties ended in Andrews County. Maker was on probation after pleading guilty in November over a domestic dispute with his […]

Customs officers nab pot on trains from Mexico



NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) – U. S. customs officers in Nogales say they’ve found three loads of marijuana inside railroad cars entering the country from Mexico in the last week. The Nogales International reports the largest of the marijuana seizures came Wednesday when officers found 14 bundles of marijuana inside a railroad car loaded with fish meal. The officers noticed something […]

Lone Ranger to begin filming in New Mexico



SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – Although reports of Johnny Depp sightings have already begun, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez says filming of The Lone Ranger will begin next month. The film, which became a symbol of the flap between Martinez and the film industry, will shoot in and around Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Shiprock through the middle of August. In […]

Judge upholds reporting by gun store owners



WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge has dismissed a firearms industry association’s lawsuit seeking to block the Obama administration from requiring gun store owners in Southwest border states to report when customers buy multiple high-powered rifles. U. S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives properly limited its requirement to purchasers of two […]

Texas man dies after fall on New Mexico ski slope



ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – A Texas man is dead after a fall while riding down a slope at Ski Apache near Ruidoso. Authorities say 29-yearold Robert Kieschnick died Wednesday shortly after the spill on the Capitan Slope intermediate trail. The medical investigator says Kieschnick might have hit his head on a rock. He wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time […]

1 teen dead, another charged in San Antonio joyride



SAN ANTONIO (AP) – A San Antonio teen was killed and his best friend was charged with intoxication manslaughter after a joyride in a stolen Jeep, authorities said. Sean Patrick Korman, 18, was doing “doughnuts” early Saturday in a field at Oscar Perez Memorial Park with two friends in a Jeep Wrangler, San Antonio police Detective Brandon Campbell told the […]

Sumlin adds assistant coaches at A&M



COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) – New Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin has added offensive and defensive coordinators as well several other assistants. Kliff Kingsbury, who was on Sumlin’s staff at Houston, will be his offensive coordinator, and Mark Snyder the defensive coordinator. Snyder, the former Marshall head coach, most recently worked as defensive coordinator at South Florida. Also joining Sumlin […]

Texas Senate worries about drought impact on electric power supply



AUSTIN, Texas ( AP) – Texas Senators worried Tuesday that continued drought could lead to brownouts and keep major firms from expanding statewide because of fears about an unreliable power grid. A growing population has left state planners rushing to approve coal-fired power plants, expand nuclear facilities, create more wind power, build transmission lines and extract natural gas to meet […]