The Oddyist

KUNM — US military used laser to take down Border Protection drone, lawmakers say - By Josh Funk And Konstantin Toropin, Associated Press The U. S. military used a laser Thursday to shoot down a "seemingly threatening" drone flying near the U.

S. -Mexico border. It turned out the drone belonged to Customs and Border Protection, lawmakers said.

The case of mistaken identity prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to close additional airspace around Fort Hancock, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of El Paso. The military is required to formally notify the FAA when it takes any counter-drone action inside U. S.

airspace. It was the second time in two weeks that a laser was fired in the area. The last time it was CBP that used the weapon and nothing was hit.

That incident occurred near Fort Bliss and prompted the FAA to shut down air traffic at El Paso airport and the surrounding area. This time, the closure was smaller and commercial flights were not affected. Washington U.

S. Rep. Rick Larsen and two other top Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure and Homeland Security committees said they were stunned when they were officially notified.

"Our heads are exploding over the news," the lawmakers said in a joint statement. They criticized the Trump administration for "sidestepping" a bipartisan bill to train drone operators and improve communication among the Pentagon, FAA and Department of Homeland Security, which includes CBP. "Now, we're seeing the result of its incompetence," they said.

Government defends use of anti-drone laser The FAA, CBP and the Pentagon issued a joint statement late Thursday that acknowledged the military "employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace. " The statement said it happened far from populated areas and commercial flights as part of the administration's efforts to strengthen protections at the border. "At President Trump's direction, the Department of War, FAA, and Customs and Border Patrol are working together in an unprecedented fashion to mitigate drone threats by Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at the U.

S. -Mexico Border," the statement said. Second time these laser systems shut down Texas airspace this month The El Paso shutdown two weeks ago lasted only a few hours, but it raised alarm and led to a number of flight cancellations in the city of nearly 700,000 people.

In that case, an anti-drone laser was deployed by CBP without coordinating with the FAA, which then decided to close the El Paso airspace to ensure commercial air safety, according to sources familiar with what happened and weren't authorized to discuss it. Afterward, members of Congress said it appeared to be another example of different agencies failing to coordinate with each other. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he was planning to brief members of Congress about the incident.

He said at an unrelated news conference last Friday that it wasn't a mistake for the FAA to close the airspace in El Paso and that he doesn't think it was a communication issue that led to the problems. Lawmaker demands an investigation Illinois Democratic U. S.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the ranking member on the Senate's Aviation Subcommittee, called for an independent investigation. "The Trump administration's incompetence continues to cause chaos in our skies," Duckworth said.

The investigation into last year's midair collision near Washington, D. C. , between an airliner and Army helicopter that killed 67 people highlighted how the FAA and Pentagon were not always working well together.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the FAA and the Army did not share safety data with each other about the alarming number of close calls around Reagan National Airport and failed to address the risks. Concern about drone threats growing Two months ago, Congress agreed to give more law enforcement agencies — including some state and local departments — the authority to take down rogue drones as long as they are properly trained. Previously, only a select few federal agencies had that power.

Armed drones regularly carry out devastating attacks in Ukraine and have also allowed Ukraine to strike deep within Russia. The U. S.

government has handed out more than $250 million to help the states prepare to respond to drones before hosting World Cup matches and celebrations planned this summer for America's 250th birthday. Another $250 million in grants will be awarded later this year to strengthen the nation's drone defenses. Drones already causing problems Drones already cause problems along the border.

Cartels routinely use drones to deliver drugs across the Mexican border and surveil Border Patrol officers. Officials told Congress last summer that more than 27,000 drones were detected within 1,600 feet (500 meters) of the southern border in the last six months of 2024. The threat to planes from drones continues to increase along with the number of near misses around airports.

Homeland Security estimates there are more than 1. 7 million registered drones flying in the United States. Anti-drone systems can use radio signals to jam drones, or high-powered microwaves or laser beams like the ones that have been used in Texas that are capable of disabling the machines.

Some others station small drones to take flight quickly and ram into threatening drones. And there are systems that use bullets, but those are more common on battlefields than in domestic use. UNM, Nusenda announce 10-year, $17.

4 million naming rights deal for the Pit - Geoff Grammer, Albuquerque Journal  The six-decade-old arena, dug 37 feet into the New Mexico dirt at the corner of Avenida Cesar Chavez and University Avenue in southeast Albuquerque, has never been called "the Pit. " At least not officially. On the books, it's a facility known as University Arena.

But the Pit, as generations of New Mexicans who attended a state basketball tournament game, a UNM men's basketball game or a nationally renowned rodeo have called it, is as beloved a part of the state's culture as just about anything. Thursday, the University of New Mexico, wanting to preserve the Pit's standing in the community and needing to unearth new revenue streams for Lobo Athletics, announced a new partnership with Nusenda Credit Union to bring those ideas together. A 10-year, $17.

4 million naming rights deal will rename University Arena as "The Pit — Powered by Nusenda" — a play on the credit union's tagline "The Power of We. " "Nusenda and the University of New Mexico has had a 40-year partnership," Nusenda President and CEO Michelle Dearholt, a UNM graduate and Albuquerque native, told the Journal in an interview prior the public announcement. "For us, this is a deepening of the partnership.

There's no better partner, in my opinion, to do this because we've already been with them down this road for 40 years. That's number one. "I think the other reason for us to really step up is college athletics — we're in a different era.

There's so much happening, there's so much with name, image and likeness, the transfer portal. There's a lack of stability, from my perspective, in what's happening in college athletics. But community partners can provide that stability.

This is where we can step up. " Officially, the deal is pending UNM Board of Regents approval, but an on-court presentation with Dearholt, University President Garnett S. Stokes, Interim Athletic Director Ryan Berryman, dozens of top administrators from both Nusenda and the university along with a pre-made announcement video including Lobo athletes — something not even allowed by the NCAA until recent years — certainly suggests the "pending" approval is all but a formality.

The sponsorship agreement is between Nusenda and Playfly Sports, UNM Athletics' multimedia rights partner with local operations more commonly referred to as UNM Sports Properties. As a third-party partner, companies like Playfly have maintained that such naming rights contracts are not public record, though the Journal has filed an Inspection of Public Records Act request for the agreement. The deal, which has been in the works for more than a year with Deputy Athletic Director Jalen Dominguez and UNM Sports Properties General Manager Brent Moore leading the charge for the school, will begin with the start of the 2026-27 Lobo men's and women's basketball seasons and will include signage on the exterior of the arena, in addition to the signage already inside.

Nusenda's previous six-figure annual agreement with UNM Athletics allows the credit union logo to be on Bob King Court. Nusenda will pay no upfront money for the new naming-rights deal, but rather what will average out to $1. 74 million per fiscal year to UNM Athletics (it starts at $1.

5 million next fiscal year and will have a small escalator each year until completion). The money will go into a general fund to support revenue sharing for athletes in all UNM sports. "The funds are intended to really help take a holistic look at the athletic needs across the board," Dearholt said.

Berryman said that while there's not a guarantee there will be a revenue sharing contract or payment for every athlete, all 16 varsity sports sponsored by the school will have at least some revenue sharing for players, not only the high-revenue sports of men's basketball and football, which were the only two sports to receive such funding when it became allowed just this past year. "We've made a conscious effort as a leadership team to prioritize that for the future ahead," Berryman said of NIL funding for all athletes. "...

We have over 400 student athletes. I think it's probably challenging to say that every student athlete will be under an agreement, but we certainly made that a priority, to prioritize every sport through that effort. "I'll also say that we're on very stable footing financially as an athletic department.

And I think when you're in that position, and we've seen a lot of athletic departments that are not in that position, every new dollar that comes in, we can be targeted in our approach. And so we're not filling a hole, we're not plugging a gap. We can choose collectively how we want to invest that new investment.

And so I think that's what's really exciting about this partnership, in particular. " The deal does not include sponsorship or branding of other facilities, such as the nearby University Stadium or either the baseball or softball fields adjacent to the Pit. That, Berryman and Stokes both hinted at, and with Dominguez already spearheading the efforts toward, is something that could be in the future.

The deal will not diminish or otherwise affect any current agreements UNM and Nusenda have, including a on-campus branch in the student union, Nusenda's funding of UNM's Center of Financial Capability, the UNM Rainforest, and other joint initiatives teaming with UNM Hospital and Popejoy Hall. "They are not new to this campus. They are not new to the state.

They understand this place and today, we are proud to expand that partnership," Stokes said. "... As part of this partnership, we will preserve the identity of the Pit that generations of logos cherish while recognizing a partner that has long stood alongside our university.

" The public's protectiveness of the Pit may have played a role in the credit union's name being placed after the venue's colloquial name. Dearholt knows some fans will insist on calling it just the Pit. "We were really mindful of that as we approached the naming opportunity," she said.

"Something that was really critical to me and my team here at Nusenda was that we were preserving the tradition of the Pit, recognizing what it means to the community. We sought feedback and did a lot of focus group surveys so that we could understand what the community wants and needs, and the feedback was really clear, to your point, the Pit has to remain the Pit. ...

"We're local. We were founded in Albuquerque. I'm a two-time graduate of UNM.