Jail has Owens on suicide watch

Scott Owens, accused of causing the crash that killed four teenagers last weekend, is on suicide watch at the Santa Fe County jail, Warden Annabelle Romero said Thursday.
Romero declined to discuss why Owens, 27, is on suicide watch but said the inmate had been monitored in that manner since he was booked into the jail Sunday.

Meanwhile, the driver of the car that Owens allegedly hit while driving drunk in the wrong lane of Old Las Vegas Highway — 16-year-old Avree Koffman — continued to improve at University Hospital.

Her father, Dan Koffman, said in a Thursday statement: “I now feel confident in saying Avree will make an almost full physical recovery and is no longer in danger from her injuries. Her recovery rate is accelerating. We know why she’s not fully awake and we think it will resolve; the sheared nerves in her brain are only in a small area.”

Avree Koffman has been awake for longer periods and has asked about her close friend, Rose Simmons, who died in the crash, the statement said. The hospital psychiatrist was assessing her condition and preparing to tell her what happened, Koffman wrote.

“I guess that will happen in the next few days,” the father wrote, “and I am indescribably apprehensive.”

Third suspect arrested in slaying

Santa Fe police detectives on Thursday morning arrested a 23-year-old man wanted in connection with the shooting death of an 18-year-old earlier this week.

Detectives located Francisco Montoya and his mother at Motel 6, 3007 Cerrillos Road, about 9 a.m., Capt. Gary Johnson said. Montoya initially told officers his name was Eloy Valdez, though detectives were able to discern his real identity and arrested him, he said.

Montoya is charged with murder, conspiracy and tampering with evidence in connection with the shooting death of Pablo Maldonado, 18, who police said was killed during a gang-related incident Sunday night at an apartment complex on Espinacitas Street.

Police also arrested Montoya’s mother, Juanita Martinez, who was wanted on seven misdemeanor warrants and one felony warrant, Johnson said.

Two other young men — John Villesange, 16, and Matthew Lujan, 18 — also have been arrested in connection with the case. Johnson has said investigators believe Villesange was the shooter.

LANL ships last of special waste type

LOS ALAMOS — Los Alamos National Laboratory has shipped its final canister of a special type of radioactive waste to southern New Mexico.

Sixteen canisters of robotic handled radioactive waste had been stored at the laboratory in vertical, concrete shafts since 1995.

The canisters each contain three 55-gallon drums filled with rags, tools, plastics, glassware and other equipment used in enclosures known as “hot cells” during the 1970s and 1980s.

The waste was transported from Los Alamos to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad.

The laboratory began shipping radioactive canisters exactly one month ago and averaged four shipments per week.

The shipment is part of an agreement to close a lab disposal area by 2015.

Lab officials say the WIPP facility will dispose of the canisters in rooms mined from a salt formation deep underground.

Institute names new president

The Santa Fe Institute has named Jeremy Sabloff as its new president.

Sabloff will succeed Geoffrey West, who is stepping down after four years and will return to his position as a SFI distinguished professor.

Sabloff will join the institute on Aug. 1. He is an archaeologist known for his discoveries on pre-historic settlement patterns, pre-industrial cities and ancient Mayan civilization. He served as chairman of the Smithsonian Institution Science Commission and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

West will return to full-time research in biology and its implication for predictive theories. During his tenure as president he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2006.


A grand jury determined recently that officers of a regional narcotics task force were justified in shooting an alleged drug dealer last fall, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said Thursday.

Matthew Romero, 23, was killed Oct. 27 after he sold half a kilogram of cocaine to an undercover officer then attempted to flee the scene of the buy in a parking lot at the Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe.

The grand jury heard testimony from officers involved in the shooting and determined on June 17 that the officers acted within bounds of their authority, Solano said.

Mayor pushes for longer bar hours

ALBUQUERQUE — Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez likes the idea of keeping bars open until 3 a.m.

The proposal doesn’t mean that servers will be pouring drinks at that hour.

Chavez said bars would still be required to shut off the booze at 1:45 but the proposal will allow them to stay open and serve soft drinks, coffee and food until 3 a.m.

The mayor says letting bars stay open later would allow customers to sober up or find a safe ride home.

Bar owner Billy Baldwin says a later closing gives customers time to think about what they’re doing and make an intelligent choice.

Chavez says he hopes to have the option in effect sometime later this year.

PNM files plan with regulators

ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico’s largest electric utility has filed a plan with state regulators that spells out how it will meet the state’s requirement for renewable energy in 2010.

Public Service Company of New Mexico said Thursday it will use a combination of solar, wind, biogas and the purchase of renewable energy credits to meet the requirement that 6 percent of energy be generated from renewable resources.

In 2011, the requirement jumps to 10 percent.

To meet the higher percentage, PNM stated in its filing with the Public Regulation Commission that it’s working to secure agreements to construct about 70 megawatts of combined wind and solar generation facilities.

PNM President and Chief Executive Officer Pat Vincent-Collawn said a key emphasis for the plan is the balance between cleaner sources and affordability.