(AP) -- ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Gov. Susana Martinez says New Mexico's struggling schools will have a chance to participate in a well-known University of Virginia-based program aimed at turning troubled schools around. The governor says $3.5 million set aside for education improvements in the current budget will help the schools with leadership training and professional development.
VELARDE, N.M. (AP) - The fire chief of a small northern New Mexico community of Velarde has been arrested after Rio Arriba County Sheriff's deputies say he pointed a gun at a crowd. Darwin Yazzie faces five counts of aggravated assault. Yazzie reportedly aimed the gun at about 30 people Monday during a meeting of volunteer firefighters in Velarde. No shots were fired, and no injuries were reported.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A criminal complaint alleges that a 2-year-old boy died after being left in a hot car for eight hours in an Albuquerque parking lot on Monday. The boy's aunt, 19-year-old Sandra Rodriguez Miramontes, says she forgot about the boy when she parked the car to go to work at a day care center. She faces a tentative charge of child abuse resulting in death.
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) - A man charged with the murder of a Ruidoso woman nearly five years ago has been found competent to stand trial. Guillermo Ruiz is charged with stabbing 20-year-old Anabel Calzaba Alvarado to death in a secluded area near a travel center on U.S. 70 outside Ruidoso in 2007. The judge ruled that Ruiz understands the charges and can aid his attorney in a defense.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
