New Mexico Police received an unusual call on Sunday night when a man hogtied a drunk driver after the drunk was nearly involved in several head-on collisions while traveling the wrong way down a stretch of New Mexico highway known for gruesome and often DUI deaths.

Justin Canuto, 22 was drunkenly driving when he finally pulled off the highway at the Red Mesa Express station on U.S. 550 at which point he was taken from his car and hogtied by a good samaritan who will not face charges.

Canuto pulled into a lot at approximately 9:30pm and after a 911 call was made pedestrians confronted the drunk who then tried to flee on foot. It was at that point that a 26-year-old man tackled Canuto to the ground and hogtied him until police arrived.

When asked if the man would be charged for his hogtie heroics Sheriff Ken Christesen said:

“I think they were trying to save lives and if you look at that intent, I’ll stand behind them everyday.”

At the time of arrest police found an open container in the drunk drivers vehicle.

In the meantime city officials ask that drunks not be confronted and instead citizens call 911 or DrunkBusters in the event of witnessing a drunk driving incident.

Since Jan. 1 six people have already died on the four-lane stretch of rural road. That would be equal to one person each week.

Do you think the unnamed citizen made the right decision in restraining the drunk driver until police arrived on the scene of the crime?

Man Hogties Drunk Driver And Calls Police is a post from: The Inquisitr

Officials in New Mexico are worried about their failing tourist industry which has plummeted by 10% over the last three years and now the states new tourism boss is hoping to change its luck with the help of a $2.5 million PR campaign and a brand new slogan.

While the new slogan has not yet been agreed upon yet a Santa Fe boutique owner tells the Wall Street Journal:

“People think New Mexico is all hoity-toity, high-end—or, for the real out-there people, there’s Roswell,” while the new tourism boss says the state would rather be thought of as a place of  ”adventure steeped in culture.”

In the meantime the 100-year-old state is looking to ditch its “Land of Enchantment” slogan after focus groups found that many people thought New Mexico was in another country or on the coast.  Some people in those same groups also called the state “dull” and “barren.”

Known best for Roswell and therefore aliens by association the new tourism chief is hoping to create a “strong” and “iconic” slogan for the state that drawn in a younger more vibrant crowd that may be interested in other offerings New Mexico can provide.

Attracting those younger crowds is extremely important for New Mexico officials, according to official state records 24% of tourists who stay overnight in the state are 60 or older, far higher than the 17% average experienced in Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

Have you vacationed in New Mexico? What did you think of your experience was it enchanted or perhaps steeped in adventure?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

New Mexico Is Looking For A New Slogan After 100 Years Of “Enchantment” is a post from: The Inquisitr

Virgin Galactic was founded by Billionaire Sir Richard Branson to bring paying customers into sub orbital flight for tourist purposes.  It is also a goal of the company to use its plane, the Spaceship 2 for scientific missions and to launch small satellites.

Spaceport America, which is located in New Mexico opened up in October 2010 with huge ceremony to mark the inaugural landing on the facility’s first runway.

Passengers who want to get in on the action and fly to space will have to part with $200,000 for the trip and put down a $20,000.  There are already more than 450 ticket holders who have booked and left their deposits.

Spacecraft 2 is carried by a twin bodied carrier plane called White Knight II.  White Knight takes Spaceship 2 to a height of around 52,000 feet.  At that point, Spaceship 2 separates and  continues on until it reaches a sub orbital space.  From the time the planes separate until it lands is about 3.5 hours.  They are only in space for a very short period fraction of that time.  Spaceship 2 reaches it maximum height for approximately 6 minutes.  During this time the passengers can take off their harnesses and float through out the cabin.

It is unknown when Virgin Galactic will make its first flight, but as of know they are headed in the right direction.

Would you pay $200,000 to Virgin Galactic for 6 minutes of weightlessness?

Virgin Galactic Gearing Up For Space Industry is a post from: The Inquisitr

About 45.8 million or 15% of the entire US population relied on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) last August, the Wall Street Journal reports.

This figure represents an 8.1% increased compared to last year, the Department of Agriculture reported. It should be noted though that the increase has slowed down compared to previous years.

Also known as food stamps, the number of those the program is availing  is expected to rise in the coming months as the economy continue to suffer from high unemployment. September data will also factor in the disaster assistance for the destruction and flooding brought by Hurricane Irene.

Among the states, Mississippi reported the largest number of population at 21% recieving food stamps. About one in five residents in New Mexico, Tennessee, Oregon and Louisiana were food stamp recipients also.

No relief is seen as families continue to depend on food stamps due to unemployment and lower wages for those who even have employment.

15% of U.S. Population on Food Stamps is a post from: The Inquisitr

Virgin Galactic has book their first suborbital flight from their southern New Mexico Spaceport and their passengers are none other than NASA officials.

Virgin announced on Thursday that NASA agreed to charter a full flight and they also asked for the option to schedule two additional flights. If all three options are exercised the three trips will be worth $4.5 billion.

According to Virgin Galactic each one of NASA’s available charters allow up to 1,300 pounds of scientific experiments to be brought about the ship.

Along with the NASA booking Virgin Galactic announced earlier in the week that former NASA executive Michael Moses has been brought on board as vice president of operations.

If you’re unfamiliar with Virgin Galactic the company is owned by Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Group and co-owned by Aabar Investments PJS. Upon successful launch of their first charters the company will be the first commercial spaceline.

Virgin Galactic hopes to launch their first flight within the next year from Spaceport America which is located approximately 50 miles outside of Las Cruces.

If given the chance would you be willing to hop aboard Virgin Galactic for a quick trip into space? I wouldn’t have to think twice about it!

NASA Books First Virgin Galactic Flight is a post from: The Inquisitr

A police officer in Santa Fe, New Mexico has been caught on security camera having sex in public with an unknown female.

The officer was in his uniform and was having sex with the female on the hood of a car in the middle of the day.

At this time no comments are being provided by State Police in the area.

The video in question was obtained two weeks ago by TV station KOB after they filed a public request with the Santa Fe Sheriff’s office and it shows the officer still wearing his utility belt while engaging in sexual intercourse at the Santa Fe Canyon Ranch.

The station also spoke with various citizens in the area who all seemed to agree that the act was an egregious violation of the officers role.

Some responses to the incident included:

“It’s an inappropriate use of time,” along with ”Inappropriate use of our tax money, I mean we pay these guys,” and ”With that kind of judgment you don’t want him carrying a weapon,” also, “I think it’s an embarrassment to the state patrol, they should be ashamed.”

Since the police officer has not been named at this time KOB who knows the officers name has chosen to keep it private at this time, although they may release the officers identity during a future broadcast.

Here’s a video news report from the incident:

What do you think the officers bosses should do, should he be suspended, fined or fired for his actions?

New Mexico State Trooper Caught Having Sex On Security Camera is a post from: The Inquisitr

A New Mexico man has been positively confirmed as the United States’ first bubonic plague sufferer in 2011.

The 58-year-old man, who lives in Santa Fe County, experienced severe groin and abdominal pain, high fever and swollen lymph nodes. He spent a week in the hospital, but has since been released, and public health officials have not released his name.

It’s believed the patient contracted the rare illness (only 10 to 15 people in the US become ill from bubonic plague each year) from a flea bite on his left leg. Public health officials in New Mexico warned residents that although the disease is rare, its ominous reputation and ‘Black Death’ moniker is there for a reason- and to know it’s possible to contract plague from animals:

It’s spread to people by direct contact with infected animals such as prairie dogs, squirrels, cats, rats and mice. The odds of this happening are low, but take care anyway. Plague fully deserves its dread-disease status and can be fatal if not treated promptly.

Although we now have antibiotics to treat bubonic plague, one in seven cases of the illness is deadly.

[Image]

Man in NM diagnosed with Bubonic Plague, recovers is a post from: The Inquisitr

A 37-year-old man is believed to have shot five former co-workers to death before turning the gun on himself in a workplace shooting in Albuquerque.

The man, who has not yet been identified, was a former employee of Emcore Corporation and had a history of domestic violence complaints. Police responded almost immediately to the scene, according to local news reports:

According to police, the shooter entered the Emcore Corporation building shortly before 9:30 a.m. Monday and started to shoot. After police entered the building at 9:29 a.m., they found multiple people injured from gunshot wounds.

Some of those initially injured succumbed to their wounds in transit or upon arrival at the hospital:

Six people were transported to University of New Mexico Hospital where one was reported to be dead on arrival and another died in the operating room, hospital spokesman Billy Sparks said.  A third was still in surgery but expected to be moved into the intensive-care unit shortly, he said.

85 people were in the building at the time of the incident. Police are now treating the situation as a “domestic violence workplace shooting.”

6 dead, 4 injured in NM workplace shooting is a post from: The Inquisitr

Larry Whitten was brought in to reverse the fortunes of a hotel in Taos, New Mexico.

So he did what any smart businessman would do- he started by pissing off and alienating the heavily-Hispanic staff. Whitten has been successful at turning around other run-down, money bleeding hotels before, but it’s unclear whether obliterating cultural identity among staff has been a winning strategy in the past.

First order of business- staff were forbidden to speak Spanish in his presence. As Whitten doesn’t speak Spanish, he insisted that he was unable to tell if staff were speaking ill of him in their native tongue. Okay, minorly offensive. While not having sufficient English is certainly a difficulty for some people, and Whitten could be painted merely by that as insensitive, it wasn’t the most offensive thing he did.

Next up- your Spanish name is unacceptable. Whitten actually insisted that hotel staff, many of whom had long careers successfully serving guests- “change” their names to suit his idea of a better, whiter staff. Marcos, not a difficult name to pronounce for anyone, would have to be called “Mark” at work. And Martin (pronounced mar-TEEN), would have to defer to plain old Martin during work hours.

Surprisingly, the strict zero-tolerance Latino policy didn’t go over very well. The uber-sensitive staff didn’t like having to hide their country of birth like a prosthetic limb in an Abercrombie & Fitch store. Some employees were fired for- well, it looks like perhaps they were fired for being Hispanic, and Whitten doesn’t get the controversy. He feels he just was plopped down into a “landmine of Anglos versus Spanish versus Mexicans versus Indians versus everybody” and is “doing what he’s always done.”

But fired employee Martin Gutierrez told press that he doesn’t need to “change (his) name and language or heritage,” adding that he’s “professional the way I am.” But as Whitten seems to wonder, is it possible to be both of Hispanic heritage and professional? The mind boggles.

[Source: Star Tribune]

Taos hotel manager invites scorn with “Anglicization” policy is a post from: The Inquisitr

Yes folks space travel is coming to New Mexico U.S.A. at $200,000 a pop for at best five minutes of free fall in the middle of a two hour flight. As hard as it is to believe there are already 250 people signed up for a trip that is hoped to take place as soon as next year.

That is if construction goes ahead as planned after Gov. Bill Richardson breaks ground on what will become Spaceport America. The construction will include the terminal, hangar facility and a 10,000 foot runway from which the spacecraft will take flight attached to an airplane. Then once airborne it will break away from the aircraft and rocket 62 miles into space before returning to the shiny new terminal.

"It’s real," said Steve Landeene, the spaceport’s executive director. "You’re not talking about things drawn on paper anymore. The boondoggle factor has started to disappear."

The spaceport will operate like an airport, offering a location where aerospace companies can lease building and hangar space. Virgin Galactic, a company owned by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, will be the spaceport’s anchor tenant.

Competitors such as XCOR Aerospace and Armadillo Aerospace are developing spacecraft for $95,000 flights. And as flights become more routine, costs should drop.

Similar spaceport ventures are proposed in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and elsewhere. Besides New Mexico, Virgin Galactic also hopes to ferry tourists to space from northern Sweden.

Source: MNN

$200,000 for five minutes of freefall – wow – who said we were in the middle of a recession.

Spaceport America breaking ground is a post from: The Inquisitr

A New Mexico man pulled over by police for erratic driving apologized by telling officers that he had spilled his beer, and that’s why he was driving the way he was.

The man, who has four previous drink driving convictions was arrested on aggravated drunken driving charges after failing a sobriety test. Officers found four opened bottles of beer in the car.

At least he was honest.

(via)

Man blames bad driving on spilled beer is a post from: The Inquisitr