SFPS enrollment numbers steady

Attendance figures given by Santa Fe Public Schools on Friday — the 10th day of class — do not reflect any major changes in enrollment from last year.

"We have about 23 students less than on last year's 10th day," said Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez. "However, last year's 10th day was after Labor Day, and on average we enroll about 25 new students the week of Labor Day."

SFPS enrolled 12,375 students this year, compared with 12,398 last year. Including charter schools, that number jumps to 13,706 this year, compared with 13,691 last year.

Two new charter schools — the MASTERS Program housed on the Santa Fe Community College campus, and New Mexico School for the Arts, located in the former St. Francis Cathedral School on the corner of East Alameda Street and Paseo de Peralta — opened this semester. MASTERS reported 120 students Friday, while the arts school reported 137 — 25 of whom came from the district's two high schools.

Labor Day party planned

Labor unions are staging a Labor Day celebration Monday at the Railyard Park.

Mayor Coss will be the emcee and a number of politicians, including Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, Sen. Tom Udall and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, a candidate for governor, are expected to be there.

The event is from noon to 3 p.m. and includes free food, music, games and prizes. Last year more than 1,000 people attended, according to a news release.

Fall is for planting

And the Santa Fe Botanical Garden is holding a huge fall plant sale on today. The sale will be at the garden's new site on Museum Hill, under a big tent.

Plants, shrubs, grasses and handmade wreaths will be on sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tours of the site will also be offered. Parking is in the overflow lot on Camino Lejo.

National Horse Trials Competition this weekend

For something different this Labor Day weekend, head out to Goose Downs Farm near Galisteo for the National Horse Trials Competition — recognized by the United States Eventing Association.

The Young Event Horse Competition gets under way today at 1 p.m. with 4 and 5-year-old horses. On Sunday, about 100 horses and riders will compete in dressage starting at 8 a.m. and show jumping in the afternoon. The cross-country competition is Monday morning and the day's events begin at 8 a.m.

The Olympic sport of eventing, in which men and women compete on equal footing, is often called the "equestrian triathlon."

Goose Down Farms is off N.M. 41 across from mile marker 58. The events are free and spectators are welcome.

NM high court permits ballpark injury lawsuit

The New Mexico Supreme Court is allowing a family to sue because their son was hit in the head by a ball during batting practice before an Albuquerque Isotopes game.

The court on Friday outlined a new legal standard in New Mexico for determining the liability of owners and operators of a commercial baseball stadium for spectator injuries. The justices said stadium operators must exercise "ordinary care" not to increase the inherent risk to spectators of being hit by a baseball.

The Isotopes and the city of Albuquerque sought to have the lawsuit dismissed.

Four-year-old Emilio Crespin was at a picnic table beyond the left field wall on July 21, 2003, when Dave Matranga of the New Orleans Zephyrs hit a ball that fractured the boy's skull.