State regulators and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center are asking the justices to order a District Court judge in Lovington to reverse an earlier decision that halted the effort by New Energy Economy to control greenhouse gas emissions.

Judge William Shoobridge granted a preliminary injunction in April that prohibited the state Environmental Improvement Board from continuing proceedings on New Energy Economy's petition.

Petition supporters argue that if allowed to stand, the judge's ruling would cripple state agencies' ability to carry out appointed responsibilities. They say the high court must hear the case because it raises questions about separation of powers and judicial interference in an administrative process.

New Mexico's largest utility, four state lawmakers and other industry groups sued in January to stop the Environmental Improvement Board from considering the petition. New Energy Economy and regulators countered with a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, a move that Shoobridge rejected.

Public Service Company of New Mexico, one of the plaintiffs, has argued that a state cap on greenhouse gas emissions would be costly for businesses and utility customers and that the emissions debate should be settled by the federal government.

Two young New Jersey men are scheduled to appear in federal court in Newark Monday morning on charges of trying to join a terrorist group.

The two were arrested Saturday at John F. Kennedy International Airport before they could board separate flights to Egypt, where they hoped to continue on to Somalia to join the terrorist group al-Shabab, a militant organization with links to Al Qaeda.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 21, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 23, had gone to Jordan in 2007. From there, they tried to get into Iraq but were turned back.

"It's a cause for concern," Kelly told reporters during a press conference on Sunday.

"It's not unlike other cases that we've seen recently where individuals who express an interest to do 'jihad' go overseas and then are turned around" and "come back to attempt acts of violence in the United States," he said, citing other high-profile cases, like Najibullah Zazi and Faisal Shahzad, both charged with plotting separate acts of terror inside the United States.

A jury sentenced a 28-year-old Nevada man to death for raping and killing a college coed after sexually assaulting two others in Reno more than two years ago.

The same Washoe County District Court jury that convicted James Biela (BEEL'-uh) last week deliberated about nine hours before reaching a unanimous verdict Wednesday.

The former pipe fitter from Sparks will be sent to death row to await execution by lethal injection.

Biela's public defenders asked the jury to spare Biela's life because he had no previous criminal record and had been abused growing up in poverty in the Chicago area.

Nineteen-year-old Brianna Denison was raped and strangled to death during a string of attacks that shook the Reno community in early 2008.

The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to will decide whether student doctors are students or employees when it comes to collecting Social Security taxes.

The high court will hear an appeal from the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Minn., and the University of Minnesota, which says the IRS shouldn't have made it collect the taxes.

Medical residents, who are studying to be doctors, routinely work in hospitals and pay income taxes. But Mayo Clinic officials say residents fall under a Social Security tax exemption for student employees whose work is part of their education.

The Treasury Department changed its rules to take away the student exemption for medical students who work more than 40 hours per week. The Obama administration said that Social Security taxes for medical residents can be as much as $700 million a year.

Mayo Clinic officials want the court to overturn a federal appeals court ruling and restore the student exemption for medical residents.

Universities, medical schools and hospitals backed Mayo, saying the issue is an important one and that federal appeals courts around the nation have reached differing decisions regarding medical residents.

Argument will take place in the fall or winter. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan would not take part in the case if confirmed because she signed the government's brief defending the IRS' position.

Two former managers of a company convicted of supplying substandard concrete to the Big Dig highway project in Boston have avoided prison time for their roles in the scheme.

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced 64-year-old Robert Prosperi of Lynnfield and 53-year-old Gregory Stevenson of Furlong, Pa., to three years of probation, including six months of home confinement.

Federal prosecutors had requested prison sentences of at least seven years for each former manager at Aggregate Industries Inc.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said the government was "disappointed" with the sentences because they do not "reflect the seriousness of the offense."

The men were convicted in August of 135 felonies, including conspiracy to commit highway project fraud. Their lawyers argued for leniency because they did not profit personally from the scheme.

A panel of judges has decided that the city of Los Angeles did not violate billboard companies' constitutional rights when it enacted a ban on outdoor ads.

The ruling this week by the 9th District Court of Appeals reverses a federal judge's 2008 decision that exceptions to the ban raised free speech concerns because they gave city officials too much leeway in deciding which signs to allow.

The appeals' court judges also vacated a contempt order against the city that was issued after it issued citations against outdoor advertising company World Wide Rush, one of the companies that challenged the sign ban.

Messages left with World Wide Rush's attorney and the Los Angeles city attorney's office were not immediately returned.