ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Polish balloon pilot Krzysztof Zapart and American teammate Andy Cayton are the apparent winners of the 2019 America's Challenge gas balloon race. The team crossed the Canadian border and landed Thursday just south of Hudson Bay, having traveled more than 1,600 miles after launching from Albuquerque earlier this week. Officials will verify flight data as part of the scoring process before crowning Zapart and Cayton this year's winners.

GRANTS, N.M. (AP) - Junction Cave at El Malpais National Monument is closed for the season. Monument officials said Friday that the closure is expected to be in effect until April to ensure the bats that hibernate inside the cave over the winter months will not be disturbed.

TAOS, N.M. (AP) - Authorities in northern New Mexico are investigating a series of fires that were sparked earlier this month. Forest officials say 18 separate fires along a forest road near the El Rito Campground burned more than 100 acres and were all human caused.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Albuquerque officials cast a spotlight on the city's missing Native Americans on Friday, saying police figures show 42 open missing person cases involving Native Americans so far this year. For 2018, there remains 36 open missing persons cases in Albuquerque, said Dawn Begay, the city's Native American affairs coordinator.

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