Mayoral candidates face off tonight

City voters will have a chance tonight to hear from the candidates for mayor of Santa Fe.

Three candidates seeking the part-time job of mayor will square off from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at a forum hosted by the Santa Fe Neighborhood Network.

Next Monday, the group has invited the candidates running for council district seats to a public forum.

Both events will be held at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center's southwest conference room, behind the cafeteria. An announcement said candidates will make short introductory statements and then answer questions submitted by the audience. The Neighborhood Network is a coalition of neighborhood associations whose stated purpose is to "educate, inform and advocate" with regard to quality-of-life issues.

City residents registered to vote before Feb. 2 may cast ballots in the March 2 election. Absentee voting begins Jan. 26.

Police shoot, kill Cordova man

CORDOVA — A New Mexico State Police spokesman says a Cordova man was killed after exchanging gunfire with state police officers Sunday at his home.

Spokesman Peter Olson says 58-year-old Luis Montoya was killed after he fired a rifle at officers who were checking on his welfare at his home.

Montoya was removed from the Ohkay Casino near Española after threatening to shoot tribal police and security officers.

State police officers were asked to check on Montoya's welfare.

Olson says when officers arrived, Montoya appeared to be intoxicated and was armed with a rifle.

Olson says the officers tried to convince him to put down the gun, but Montoya fired the rifle and officers returned fire.

Olson says exactly how Montoya was killed is under investigation.

Montoya died at an Española hospital.

SIC seeks more funds for probe

ALBUQUERQUE — The State Investment Council has asked for nearly $6 million in additional money to cover legal expenses associated with the ongoing investment scandal, and a leader in the state Senate is none too happy about it.

"It just doesn't make any sense to me," President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, a Roswell Democrat, said Friday. "I'm concerned that everyone is concerned with protecting themselves instead of protecting the public."

The State Investment Council wants a $1.7 million budget adjustment and a $4 million supplemental appropriation to cover the legal expenses.

Much of the money would go to a San Francisco law firm that is charging up to $950 an hour and can earn up to $5.8 million under a contract that started at $30,000.

Investment Council spokesman Charles Wollman defended the contract.

"We share the concern over the increased expense, but the need to respond to the federal subpoenas was immediate and necessary," he said.

Theater evacuated after woman shot

ALBUQUERQUE — Police say an Albuquerque movie theater was evacuated late Saturday after a gunshot rang out and a patron was hit in the ankle.

Police spokeswoman Nadine Hamby says the woman suffered a gunshot wound to her ankle during a screening of the film Avatar at the Century Rio 24 movie theater.

Witnesses told police that the shot sounded like a bomb and that three people ran quickly from the theater. Police were questioning two people, but no arrests have been made.

Rodeo brings $4M to San Juan County

FARMINGTON — San Juan County saw more than $4.6 million in new spending after hosting the National High School Finals Rodeo in July.

An economic analysis commissioned by the Tres Rios High School Rodeo Association shows that more than $4 million was spent outside the rodeo grounds for lodging, meals, rental cars, fuel and retail sales.

Researchers surveyed visitors, participants, rodeo staff and residents attending the weeklong national event.

Local spending by rodeo visitors was down from the previous year, when more than $5.3 million was spent.

Tres Rios officials say the economic impact doesn't directly translate back into taxpayer dollars to pay the community's cost of hosting the event.

They say that's why they can't justify asking the rodeo to return in 2014.




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