Python taken from pet store

The owner of Jurassic Pets reported Saturday that someone walked out of his store with a 4-foot, albino ball python.

Harrison Frazier said he was the only one working Saturday afternoon and was helping customers when a man left the store with the snake.

Frazier said he thinks he has seen the man in the store before.

The $1,200, yellow-and-white snake is "very docile" and not dangerous, Frazier said.

Lottery prize remains unclaimed

ALBUQUERQUE — A Powerball ticket worth $200,000 is out there, unclaimed, and New Mexico Lottery officials are urging players to check their tickets.

The winning ticket is from the March 18 drawing. It was sold in northwestern New Mexico, and officials are unsure of whether the ticket holder lives in New Mexico or another state.

The five numbers on the winning ticket are 16, 26, 29, 41 and 45. The ticket missed the red Powerball number of 1. The jackpot would have been $55 million had all the numbers matched those drawn that night.

Lottery officials say the ticket holder has until June 16 to claim the prize.

Buckaroo Bacchus fundraiser set

Organizers of the Buckaroo Ball, which raises money for children and families at risk in Santa Fe County, plan to hold a wine-tasting benefit.

The Buckaroo Bacchus is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. June 13, and costs $75 per person. Wines will be provided by Walter J. Gallegos, John Mahan of Wine Patrol and Harmony Wynelands. Also offered will be appetizers, cheeses and desserts from Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and CG Higgins Confections.

The ball committee canceled this year's version of the annual multiday, Western-themed party because of the sagging economy and is holding a series of smaller fundraising events instead.

For reservations, call 992-3700. To contribute online, go to www.buckarooball.com.

Call center hiring in Duke City

ALBUQUERQUE — A call center business that has workers handle calls from their homes plans to hire 150 to 200 more people in Albuquerque and the surrounding area.

Sitel says its HomeShore program uses home-based workers to provide Fortune 500 clients more flexibility in managing their customer needs.

Jobs start at $9 an hour, with benefits.

Sitel plans a job fair starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday at its Albuquerque offices.

Sitel site director Diana Grandinetti says the Albuquerque's diverse bilingual work force and network of surrounding communities make it an excellent location for the HomeShore program.

The privately held company employs 60,000 workers in 27 countries.

Teen escapee turns self in

CARLSBAD — An Artesia teenager who fled the juvenile detention center at Springer has turned himself in to deputies in Eddy County.

Authorities say 18-year-old Anthony Herrera escaped Sunday. He turned himself in Thursday night.

He was being held at Springer on attempted first-degree murder and other charges stemming from a 2006 shooting involving another teenager when he escaped Sunday.

State police last Wednesday arrested two Artesia residents, 21-year-old Reyna Alvarado and 18-year-old Brittney Luna, on accusations they conspired with Herrera to provide him a ride and a place to hide.

Ditch meeting scheduled

Acequia parciantes, and the interested public on La Puebla Ditch or from the Santa Cruz Irrigation District can attend a forum regarding water use, irrigation, ditches and drainages at 10 a.m. Monday.

The meeting will be held at the Hands Across Cultures Teen Center, 89 La Puebla Road in La Puebla, near Española. The meeting is coordinated by archaeologist James Smart, founder of the new nonprofit Congruent Environments.

Riparian project needs volunteers

Volunteers are needed for a riparian fencing project in the Upper Red River area, near Questa and Red River, from June 12 to 14.

The project is sponsored by the nonprofit Amigos Bravos and the Carson National Forest.

Fencing will protect a section of upper Bitter Creek from impacts of off-road vehicles and livestock grazing. Volunteers also will plant willows.

Volunteers are welcome to camp out on Friday and Saturday nights. To sign up, e-mail Rachel Conn at rconn@amigosbravos.org.

N.M. to share in Aventis settlement

New Mexico will receive more than $362,000 as part of a settlement with drug maker Sanofi-Aventis over allegations the company cheated Medicaid on the cost of nasal sprays.

The Justice Department said last week that Aventis Pharmaceutical Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, has agreed to pay the government $95.5 million to settle the charges.

The New Mexico Attorney General's Office announced New Mexico's share Friday.

The government charged that between 1995 and 2000, Aventis and its corporate predecessors did not offer Medicaid the best prices for the sprays Azmacort, Nasacort and Nasacort AQ.

Sanofi-Aventis U.S. did not admit any wrongdoing. The company issued a statement saying it believed the old pricing system was legal.

Check-cashing scam alleged

SOCORRO — A 49-year-old Socorro man is accused of helping run an international check-cashing scam after police investigated when a UPS driver became suspicious about dozens of overnight deliveries to the man's home.

Socorro police detective Richard Lopez says Phillip Clifford, 49, may have been a middleman for overseas operators in Nigeria.

He's charged with eight counts of forgery.

According to police, the scam mailed fraudulent checks and money orders to potential victims nationwide.

The scam asked them to deposit the money in their bank accounts, withdraw it immediately, and send 90 percent of it via a money order to the person who wrote the check.

Supposedly the victim makes 10 percent of the amount, but in reality the check is bad and the victim has to cover it.

Illegal dump cleanup grants available

The New Mexico Environment Department has money available for groups to clean up illegal dumps and recycle tires.

The department is seeking applicants for its 2010 Recycling and Illegal Dumping grants. Cities, counties, pueblos, land grant associations and solid waste authorities can apply for the grants.

"This money assists communities in expanding recycling programs and combating illegal dumping to protect New Mexico's landscape and natural resources," New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry said in a news release.

The grants also can be used to reduce tire stockpiles on public and private land. The piles attract rodents and are a fire hazard. The grants can be used to fund tire recycling and the manufacture of products such as tire bales, ground rubber for tire-derived landscaping products, and rubberized asphalt for parking lots.

Applications are due June 19. Information, instructions and applications for the grants are located on the department's Solid Waste Bureau Web site at www.nmenv.state.nm.us/swb/