Transient held for murder of Nob Hill woman
(AP) - A transient is being held for the murder of a 52-year-old woman last month after DNA found at the murder scene matched his, police said.
Phillip Busey, 42, was arrested Saturday and charged with the Jan. 19 murder of Kathryn Hauser, who was found severely injured in her home after an attorney walking to work heard her screams. She died later at a hospital.
Busey is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center on a $3 million bond, Albuquerque police officer Trish Ahrensfield said.
Police, black leaders say no profiling in arrest
(AP) - City officials and black leaders said the November arrest of a black clergyman was not a case of racial profiling.
The two sides have discussed the arrest during a traffic stop of Rev. James L'Keith Jones - a member of the Police Oversight Commission - and concluded that an Albuquerque police officer did not racially profile Jones, Mayor Martin Chavez said.
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"We're not perfect. Like the rest of America we have issues with race," Chavez said. "But the arrest was legitimate. The stop was legitimate. It was not based in race or racial profiling."
Richardson pays for man to attend soldier's funeral
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - The father of Army Staff Sgt. Joseph E. Rodriguez, who died last week in Iraq, said he will be able to attend a memorial service for his son thanks to Gov. Bill Richardson.
Robert Rodriguez of Brownsville, Texas, said Richardson bought him an airline ticket out of his own pocket that will enable him to attend a memorial service Saturday at a Las Cruces church.
"I'm just so grateful, so overwhelmed by the governor's generosity for doing this," Rodriguez said. "I'm honored and humbled to everyone, everywhere who has shown so much respect for my son and so much support to our family."
Elementary teacher faces molestation charges
SANTA FE (AP) - A former elementary school teacher charged with molesting two students has been indicted on additional charges involving two more boys.
A Santa Fe grand jury indicted Ernest Dominguez, 31, of Tucumcari, on 22 counts of child molestation and related charges Thursday.
The new indictment alleges that Dominguez abused two children under the age of 13 between August 2001 and August 2002.
Dominguez is under house arrest in Tucumcari while he awaits trial.
Bush submits $2.5 trillion fiscal plan to Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush's $2.5 trillion budget is shaping up as his most austere, trying to restrain spending across a wide swath of government from popular farm subsidies to poor people's health programs.
Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday defended the plan against Democratic criticism that Bush had to seek steep cuts in scores of federal programs because he is unwilling to roll back first-term tax cuts that opponents contend primarily benefited the wealthy.
The budget's submission to Congress on Monday will set off months of intense debate. Lawmakers from both parties can be expected to vigorously fight to protect their favorite programs.
Female guard demoted for mud-wrestling in Iraq
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A female member of a National Guard military police unit was demoted for indecent exposure after a mud-wrestling party at the Army-run Camp Bucca detention center in Iraq, a military spokesman said Sunday.
The party occurred Oct. 30, as the 160th Military Police Battalion, an Army Reserve Unit from Tallahassee, Fla., prepared to turn over its duties to the Asheville-based 105th Military Police Battalion, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, spokesman for detainee operations at Camp Bucca.
Togo lawmakers approve president's son for post
LOME, Togo (AP) - Togo lawmakers approved the son of late President Gnassingbe Eyadema as their new speaker of parliament, setting the stage for him to legally assume the West African nation's presidency.
In an extraordinary session, the 81-member national assembly approved a measure that would allow Faure Gnassingbe to complete his father's term and stay in office without calling new elections until 2008.
Rice says Israel has 'hard decisions' ahead
JERUSALEM (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that Israel has some "hard decisions" to make as it moves toward peace with the Palestinians and the creation of a neighboring democracy. On her first trip to the Middle East since taking over at the State Department, Rice also urged both sides to live up to their promises.
Four Egyptians abducted in western Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Gunmen waylaid a minibus Sunday carrying foreign technicians to their jobs at a mobile telephone company in western Baghdad, seizing four Egyptians in the second kidnapping of foreigners in the Iraqi capital within a week.
The daylight ambush occurred only two days after gunmen grabbed a female Italian journalist near Baghdad University, raising fears of a new wave of kidnappings after a decline in abductions since last year's capture of a rebel stronghold west of Baghdad.
