Free Republic

New Mexico lawmakers on Monday passed legislation to launch what they said was the first full investigation into what happened at Zorro Ranch, where the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is accused of trafficking and sexually assaulting girls and women. A bipartisan committee will seek testimony from survivors of alleged sexual abuse at the ranch, located about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, the state capital. The so-called truth commission, comprising four lawmakers, seeks to identify ranch guests and state officials who may have taken part in alleged sexual abuse in its hacienda-style mansion and guest houses...weeks after the...

Aurora Innovation said it has tripled its driverless trucking network to 10 routes as it prepares to expand autonomous freight operations across the southern United States. The Pittsburgh-based company said its latest software release enables its Aurora Driver autonomous control system to operate on longer lanes, serve direct customer endpoints, and navigate a wider range of adverse weather conditions. The company touted these as key steps as the company moves toward scaling commercial operations. With the addition of Phoenix to its network, Aurora now operates driverless freight lanes between Dallas and Houston, Fort Worth and El Paso, El Paso and...

Allegations of bodies buried near Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County have emerged from millions of pages of documents related to the convicted sex offender's crimes, prompting calls for an investigation from New Mexico officials. "I'm gonna keep asking questions and keep poking around until I get an answer," New Mexico's Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard told KOAT on Tuesday. These allegations originated from an anonymous email sent in 2019 to local radio host Eddy Aragon. The email claimed to be from a former staffer at Zorro Ranch, stating, "Did you know somewhere in the hills outside...

Two of the most hotly debated bills of the session — one targeting emissions policy and the other unconstitutional sweeping gun regulations — triggered marathon hearings, sharp partisan divides, and dueling victory statements this week at the Roundhouse.Clear Horizons Act Goes Down in the Senate On Wednesday, the Senate rejected Senate Bill 18, the so-called “Clear Horizons Act,” on a 19–23 vote, with seven Democrats joining all Republicans in opposition. The measure, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, would have placed into state statute emissions-reduction benchmarks first advanced under Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration. According to reporting...

A Las Cruces woman is behind bars after police say she gave birth to a baby girl inside a portable toilet and left the newborn in the holding tank, resulting in the child’s death. According to authorities, 38-year-old Sonia Jimenez was arrested following an investigation that began late Saturday night. Around 10:30 p.m., staff at Memorial Medical Center contacted law enforcement after Jimenez arrived at the hospital appearing to have recently delivered a baby. Medical personnel quickly realized the newborn was not with her and alerted police. Officers began questioning those connected to Jimenez, including her boyfriend, who told investigators...

Rulings could mean easier paths to reelection for some New Mexico incumbents. SANTA FE — If he rebuffs a primary challenge, U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján is set to avoid a Republican opponent in his bid for a second term, after a potential GOP opponent was disqualified Tuesday for failing to meet ballot requirements. The disqualification of Republican candidate Christopher Vanden Heuvel of Rio Rancho means that for the first time in modern state history the state's general election ballot for a U.S. Senate race will have only one major party candidate. In all, [Democrat] Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse...

[Catholic Caucus] Lepanto Institute calls for Pope Leo to laicize New Mexico priest over homosexual ‘domestic partnership’Lepanto pointed out that parents of grade school age children are concerned for the welfare and safety of their children, with an openly pro-homosexual priest serving as pastor of a Catholic schoolThe Lepanto Institute has formally requested that Pope Leo laicize and suspend from ministry a New Mexico priest who entered into a homosexual “domestic partnership” for 10 years during a 28-year leave of absence from the priesthood.Lepanto sent a copy of its August 2025 report on Fr. Steve Rosera, of the Archdiocese of...

The New Mexico legislature is considering what appears to be an unconstitutional bill, SB17. The bill creates considerable red tape and record-keeping requirements for gun dealers. It also bans the sale of numerous common firearms by simply requiring that dealers be forbidden to process background checks for those firearms. New Mexico requires dealers to run background checks for nearly all firearm sales.Excerpts of the bill from nmlegis.gov:A. Beginning on July 1, 2026, a dealer shall not sell or transfer any of the following firearms, ammunition or devices to a person who is not licensed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 923,...

As a career prosecutor, I have a deep understanding not only of how our criminal statutes work, but also of the personal toll crime takes on families. For years, I have witnessed the devastation caused when loved ones are lost to violent crime. That loss, and the pain left behind, is what drove me to run for office. Simply put, I know what needs to change in our laws to prevent more people from becoming victims. This year, however, it has become increasingly clear why New Mexico remains so dangerous. What follows may sound like “insider baseball,” but it is...

After a sometimes heated six-hour debate and a few failed amendments, the New Mexico Senate passed a gun bill that aims to stop firearms from getting into the wrong hands and ban the sale of certain types of weapons. With a 21-17 vote, Senate Bill 17 now heads to the House for approval. Sens. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces, Benny Shendo Jr. of Jemez Pueblo and Angel Charley of Acoma Pueblo were the lone "no" votes among Democratic lawmakers. All Republican senators voted in opposition. Senate Bill 17 would require licensed gun dealers to keep inventory records and implement security...

ANTHONY — Two of the safest cities in New Mexico are located in southern Doña Ana County, according to a recent survey published by home security company SafeWise. Analyzing federally reported property and violent crime data, the company rated Anthony the state’s safest city, with neighboring Sunland Park ranking fourth. The two cities also shared the top five in last year’s ranking, and Sunland Park has been rated No. 1 in the past. Anthony sits almost equidistant between Las Cruces and El Paso, Texas, and borders a Texas town also named Anthony as well as several unincorporated communities in a...

A sweeping gun control proposal that critics say represents one of the most extreme assaults on the Second Amendment in New Mexico history is now headed to the Senate floor. Senate Bill 17, which would ban the sale of a broad range of semi-automatic firearms and impose heavy new mandates on federally licensed gun dealers, advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday night on a 6–3 party-line vote. An effort to strip out the bill’s semi-automatic firearm and standard-capacity magazine bans failed on a 4–5 vote, clearing the way for the legislation to move forward in largely intact form....

SANTA FE — The highest-profile climate change bill under consideration during this year’s 30-day legislative session passed its first Senate committee hearing Tuesday, but only after weathering a broad blast of opposition from business and industry groups. After five hours of public testimony and debate, the Senate Conservation Committee voted 5-4 to advance the Clear Horizons Act to its next assigned committee. The vote on the legislation, Senate Bill 18, broke down largely along party lines, with Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, joining the committee's three Republican members in casting "no" votes. He voiced concern the legislation could lead to...

A woman shot in the head by a federal agent, widespread protests, families separated and American citizens unlawfully detained. State Rep. Eleanor Chavez, D-Albuquerque, described these scenes before introducing House Bill 9, which could shutter immigration detention centers in New Mexico. “Now is the time more than ever to pass the Immigrant Rights Act,” Chavez said before the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Thursday. Located in rural Cibola, Torrance and Otero counties, New Mexico's detention facilities have a combined detainee population of more than 1,500 people, according to recent estimates. Though the bill would not directly close all...

The parents of the two children accusing Timothy Busfield of sexual abuse are involved in an unrelated ongoing lawsuit over alleged injuries the dad suffered, Us Weekly can exclusively report. On August 12, 2024, Ronald Rodis and Angele LaSalle filed a lawsuit against Southwest Executive Suites and various other defendants.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman sent a letter Wednesday to a top Immigration and Customs Enforcement official in Albuquerque warning that some practices of federal agents in other states could be prosecuted as a felony offense under New Mexico law. ICE officials who detain someone without a warrant signed by a judge can be charged under New Mexico's felony false imprisonment law, which contains no exceptions for law enforcement officers, Bregman wrote. "I write to express my deep concern about ICE procedures and operations across the country," he said in the letter sent to William Shaw, assistant field office...

Hundreds of students staged a walkout at several schools across Albuquerque on Tuesday in protest of immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. The nationwide "Free America Walkout" saw students at six Albuquerque Public Schools campuses leave their classes, according to a statement from the district. The students walked out at 2 p.m. in protest of recent actions taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Students at Manzano, Highland, Sandia, Albuquerque High, Del Norte and Eldorado high schools joined in the walkout. In an official statement, APS said the district “does not sponsor or encourage walkouts, but we understand...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Actor Melissa Gilbert could speak Tuesday at a New Mexico detention hearing for her husband, Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield, who faces child sex abuse charges stemming from allegations that he inappropriately touched a minor on a TV series set. Busfield, who is known for appearances in “The West Wing,” “Field of Dreams” and “Thirtysomething,” was ordered held without bond last week at his first court appearance. Busfield called the allegations lies in a video shared before he turned himself in. Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls in the 1970s to ’80s TV series “Little House on...

HOBBS, N.M. (KRQE) – The Hobbs woman found guilty of throwing her newborn baby in a dumpster has lost her latest attempt to appeal her conviction. Alexis Avila received a 16-year sentence after she was seen on camera throwing her newborn in the trash bin behind a Hobbs shopping center. Three people digging through the trash found the baby alive. The New Mexico Court of Appeals upheld her conviction last year, but she asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to hear the case. The Supreme Court denied her request, meaning she has to serve her full sentence.

The U.S. Geological Survey said a new assessment shows the Permian Basin in Texas contains an estimated 1.6 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and 28.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Woodford and Barnett shale formations. The findings highlight major untapped energy potential deep beneath West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. According to the USGS, the two formations could also yield about 813 million barrels of natural gas liquids. At current consumption levels, the oil alone would supply the United States for roughly 10 weeks, while the natural gas could meet national demand for about 10...