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2 N.M. airport towers still open
WASHINGTON — The closings of control towers at 149 small airports, including Albuquerque’s Double Eagle Airport and Santa Fe’s Municipal Airport, were due to begin this weekend but are being delayed until mid-June, federal regulators announced Friday.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it needs more time to deal with legal challenges to the closures.
Also, about 50 airport authorities and other “stakeholders” have indicated they want to fund the operations of the towers themselves rather than see them shut down, and more time will be needed to work out those plans, the FAA said in a statement.
Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., welcomed the FAA’s decision and said announced he will sponsor a bipartisan effort with Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to block the FAA from implementing any closures for the next two years.
The first 24 tower closures were scheduled to begin Sunday, with the rest coming over the next few weeks. Funding for the Double Eagle was originally scheduled to end on April 21 and the Santa Fe tower on May 5.
Four face charges in N.M. meth ring
State and federal authorities said four people are facing charges following a two-month investigation into a drug trafficking ring.
Authorities with a regional drug enforcement task force said large amounts of methamphetamine were being trafficked in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties.
Last week’s bust netted officers almost a pound of meth that was valued at $12,000, along with an ounce of cocaine, two stolen handguns and more than $4,200 in cash.
The investigation also turned up evidence related to several property crime cases in Santa Fe.
Authorities identified those facing charges as 38-year-old Christopher Candelaria of Albuquerque and Santa Fe residents 34-year-old Regina Cole, 30-year-old Justin Jameson and 31-year-old Angelo Rotunno.
37-month term in fatal DWI crash
A 20-year-old man accused of driving drunk and killing a resident of the Navajo Nation has been sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Federal prosecutors said Jervis Wilson of Cudi must also serve three years of supervised release for his conviction of involuntary manslaughter. Wilson was sentenced Thursday.
Authorities said Wilson was driving drunk on U.S. 64 outside of Shiprock on the Navajo reservation when he tried to pass other vehicles.
He was speeding and hit an SUV. He continued on and side-swiped another car before crashing into a pickup truck driven by 52-year-old Herman Willeto.
The crash happened on March 2, 2012.
Prosecutors said Wilson’s blood-alcohol level was 0.23 percent when blood was drawn within three hours of the crash. The legal limit in New Mexico is 0.08 percent.
— This article appeared on page B1 of the Albuquerque Journal
