Drug OVERDOSE PLIGHT goes on

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Health announced continued progress in addressing prescription drug overdose in New Mexico with its latest state quarterly prescribing report showing improved prescribing practices for opioids Oct. 11.

Opioid prescriptions dropped nearly 12 percent compared to the second quarter of last year. This reduction in prescribing comes after Gov. Susana Martinez enacted legislation making it mandatory for healthcare providers to check a patient’s prescription history in the state’s Prescription Monitoring Program database when prescribing opioids.

Most measures of opioid prescribing have shown significant declines from...

ALBUQUERQUE – At around 4:30 pm on Oct. 16, New Mexico State Police responded to a report of a downed aircraft west of Albuquerque.

State police, with the assistance of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, Albuquerque Fire Rescue and local first responders, located the plane in a field about 10 miles west of Double Eagle airport.

The pilot Michael Vavrek, 68, and passenger Judy Vavrek, 67, both of Albuquerque, were killed in the crash and pronounced deceased on scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator.

NTSB and FAA investigators were on scene Oct. 17 to investigate the crash.  Inquiries into the cause of the crash should be made to federal investigators.

Weapon looked like shotgun

The McKinley County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an Oct. 15 armed robbery of a gas station in Thoreau.

Deputy Johnson Lee said he was dispatched to the Giant Station in Thoreau just after midnight because of an alarm going off at the business. As Lee was driving there, Metro Dispatch reportedly told him they were having trouble contacting the store.

Just before he arrived at the station, he received word that someone at the business said they were robbed by a man carrying a shotgun and wearing a black mask.

After interviewing the three clerks at the store, Lee learned the suspect began walking south after he was given the cash from the register.

Lee...

County recycling hub brings home New Mexico Recycling Award

The New Mexico Recycling Coalition is pleased to announce the 2018 New Mexico Recycling Awards winners.

Since 2002, NMRC has recognized individuals, businesses and communities that work to reduce waste and support recycling and composting in New Mexico.

The recycling awards were presented on Sept. 25 at the New Mexico Recycling and Solid Waste Conference: Local Actions for Global Markets that took place at the Albuquerque Marriott Uptown.

The conference brought together over 200 individuals working in recycling and solid waste and representing rural and urban municipalities, counties, federal entities, universities, tribes...