Today's News

The Los Alamos Hilltopper girls basketball team earned a victory in the quarterfinal round of the District 2-4A tournament.

The Hilltoppers held double-digit leads over the Capital Jaguars most of the way Tuesday night and closed the door in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Jaguars 18-7 to win 57-33 at Griffith Gymnasium.

With the win, Los Alamos advances to the semifinals of the 2-4A tournament. It will face Española Valley’s Sundevils Thursday in Española.

For more information, read Wednesday’s Los Alamos Monitor.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A deeply divided Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm Republican Chuck Hagel to be the nation's next defense secretary, handing President Barack Obama's pick the top Pentagon job just days before billions of dollars in automatic, across-the-board budget cuts hit the military.

The vote was 58-41, with four Republicans joining the Democrats in backing the contentious choice. Hagel's only GOP support came from former colleagues Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Dick Shelby of Alabama and Mike Johanns of Nebraska — all three had announced their support earlier — and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

The vote came just hours after Republicans dropped their unprecedented delay of a Pentagon choice and allowed the nomination to move forward on a 71-27 vote.

Hagel, 66, a former two-term Nebraska senator and twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran, succeeds Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Hagel is expected to be sworn in at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

Obama welcomed the bipartisan Senate vote, although 41 Republicans opposed his nominee, and said in a statement that "we will have the defense secretary our nation needs and the leader our troops deserve."

Cleanup continues

SANTA FE — Western Refining and its environmental cleanup contractor, D & H Pump, are continuing to work to clean up an estimated 1,600 gallons of gasoline that were spilled from a Western Refining fuel tanker that jackknifed and ruptured on US 84/285 at the NM 599 exit Sunday evening.
The right northbound lane and the right southbound lane of US 84/285 were closed as of 11:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. Traffic was delayed Sunday evening as first responders worked to contain the spill. Motorists are advised that the cleanup work could take several days.
The New Mexico Environment Department’s Hazardous Waste Bureau is working with Western Refining to ensure proper remediation of the site. The New Mexico Environment Department’s Surface Water Quality Bureau has also been alerted.
NMDOT urges motorists to proceed through the area with caution, watch for traffic control signing, and observe reduced speed limits.
Up-to-date information on this and other construction and maintenance projects can be found on NMRoads.com, the NMDOT road advisory website.

Children’s Museum at the Legislature

George M Hrbek, 21, of Los Alamos was cited by police for driving through a red light at the intersection of Diamond Drive and Canyon Road Monday. His car reportedly hit another car turning left onto Diamond from Canyon. There were no injuries, but medics from the Los Alamos Fire Department checked both drivers just to be sure.