Rising gas prices will affect NM motorists
New Mexico gasoline prices are averaging $1.669 this week for a gallon of self-serve regular, but AAA New Mexico is predicting prices could hit records this summer.
This week's price is well below the national high of $1.738 reached Tuesday and below the New Mexico high of $1.69 last Sept. 3, said Brenda Yager, spokeswoman for AAA New Mexico.
But New Mexico faces the same factors affecting prices in the rest of the country - the high cost of oil, short supplies and a high demand expected from summer travel, she said.
"Our prediction is that it is pretty safe that it is going to be a tough year in terms of gas price and supply in the United Sates and in New Mexico," Yager said.
The price of gasoline follows the price of crude oil, said Ruben Baca, state executive for the New Mexico Petroleum Marketers Association.
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Baca said gas and oil prices are the highest in 20 years.
No break for captain who let mayor's wife off easy
An Albuquerque police captain will be disciplined for giving the mayor's wife a break on a parking ticket by reducing it to a warning.
Police Chief Gilbert Gallegos began an investigation last month. The investigation determined that Capt. Conrad Candelaria violated procedure by reducing the ticket to Margaret Aragon de Chavez, wife of Mayor Martin Chavez.
Candelaria said Tuesday he had been notified of the decision and would accept any discipline by the department.
Living organ donors offered financial help
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House, hoping to spur more lifesaving organ donations, voted Wednesday to reimburse organ donors for travel and other nonmedical expenses involved in transplant surgery.
The legislation is an "important move to ensure that those who want to give the gift of life are not swayed by financial constraints," said Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y. It would authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to spend $5 million a year, beginning Oct. 1, to reimburse qualified donors.
The bill passed 414-2, with only Reps. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., voting in opposition. Next it will go to the Senate, which passed a similar bill in November.
Prosecutors link Nichols' phone calls to McVeigh
McALESTER, Okla. (AP) - Prosecutors on Wednesday tried to link Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols to prepaid phone cards allegedly used to contact Timothy McVeigh.
The cards were purchased from the Spotlight, a right-wing newspaper, and were renewed by someone using the name Daryl Bridges, according to William Sweet, the magazine's former marketing director.
Prosecutors say Bridges was one of the aliases Nichols used in his attempt to help McVeigh, the man executed for the blast that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. The attack killed 168 people.
Jury selection for Jackson case begins
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - Dozens of prospective grand jurors arrived at an assembly room Thursday so court officials could begin selecting a panel to hear evidence in the child molestation case against Michael Jackson.
Court officials struggled to maintain secrecy about the grand jury's activities, which are usually confidential. Several reporters and news crews arrived hours before prospective grand jurors.
An order issued by Superior Court Judge Clifford R. Anderson III on Wednesday barred news crews from photographing or speaking to prospective grand jurors and members of the final panel.
More violence erupts in Iraq, three civilians killed
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Insurgents attacked a U.S. military patrol west of Baghdad early Wednesday, and an ensuing fight left three civilians dead and two U.S. soldiers injured, the U.S. military and Iraqi hospital officials said.
The fighting came a day after assailants shot at a van carrying police recruits south of Baghdad, killing nine, while gunmen killed two policemen in the north. On Wednesday, the police chief of a nearby district was shot and killed.
