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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Three teenagers who authorities say were apparently playing with fireworks were charged Friday with starting one of two wildfires that burned along the Rio Grande north of downtown and drove hundreds of people from their homes. An Arizona wildfire that devastated a mountaintop hamlet a week ago also was caused by people, officials said. But they said they do not know yet if it was deliberate. Ricky Navarette, 16, Fernando Anaya, 13, and Steven Sedillo, 13, all of Albuquerque, were booked on arson and related charges. Sedillo also was charged with tampering with evidence. The fire, which...

Los Alamos can't find two vials of plutonium Lab thinks they were mislabeled, discarded Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau Thursday, June 19, 2003 ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback Washington -- The Los Alamos National Laboratory has lost track of a small quantity of plutonium, raising new questions about the New Mexico nuclear weapons lab's handling of radioactive material. Officials at the lab, which is managed by the University of California, said the material -- two vials of plutonium oxide -- was probably mislabeled by lab employees. Lab managers believe it was most likely discarded in a waste drum on...

A bill introduced in the New Mexico legislature would ban the sale of all handguns except those equipped with smart-gun technology, the New Mexican reported February 18th. While smart-gun technology is under development, no such products exist on the market today. The technology prevents unauthorized people from firing weapons. The Handgun Safety Standard Act introduced by Representative Gail Beam (D-Albuquerque) would require the state to establish a commission to adopt and disseminate handgun-safety standards. The measure also allows residents to keep the conventional handguns they already own. "It's a public-health initiative because accidental death by guns is rampant in the...

MUDDY SUNDAY Earlier this week Democratic Senators were briefed by senior Democratic National Committee staffers on the events and plans the party has come up with for the final days before Tuesday's elections. "You're going to be seeing a lot of stories on Sunday about Republican candidates all over the country just pop up," says a Democratic Senate staffer who was afterward told about the meeting by his boss. "Various campaigns have held back on opposition research and are looking to have those stories dumped over the weekend leading into election day." It wasn't clear from the briefing whether the...

ALBUQUERQUE—A New Mexico scientist who served as a weapons inspector says Iraq's primary roadblock in building nuclear weapons has been in getting core materials. Retired Sandia National Laboratories scientist Paul Stokes took inspection teams into Iraq while Saddam Hussein was cooperating with the United Nations in 1994 and 1995. "We could go anywhere, anytime, unannounced," Stokes said. Stokes knows that Iraq had some computer-controlled machine tools that could be used for cut precision parts and plans for nuclear weapons in 1995. But years later, he says the country still might have trouble getting core nuclear materials and tools. "They certainly...

N.M. Man Shoots 2 After House Blast New Mexico Man Injured in House Explosion Shoots at Would-Be Rescuers, Killing Two ROSWELL, N.M. March 16 — A man injured in a house explosion shot at his rescuers, killing a paramedic and a neighbor and wounding the fire chief and a child before committing suicide Saturday. Police said they do not know any motive. The shooter, whose identity was not released, had suffered burns in the house fire and had sought help from his neighbor Randy Houghton, said Officer Robert Giles, a police spokesman. Steve Lovato, an emergency medical technician, and other...